Judge orders abortion for disabled woman (Florida)

World Net Daily ^ | 5-23-03 | WND

[cgk]

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH

Judge orders abortion
for disabled woman

28-year-old also to undergo tubal ligation to bar future pregnancies

---

Posted: May 23, 2003
4:45 p.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A Miami judge has ruled a mentally disabled rape victim should have an abortion because the pregnancy could be life-threatening, according to local press reports.

The woman, whose identity is not being revealed, is mentally retarded with the cognitive abilities of a 4-year-old, deaf, prone to having seizures and has a shunt in her brain to drain excess fluid.

Police believe the woman was raped, and likely more than once.

Medical experts say carrying the pregnancy to full-term would be dangerous for her and may result in the baby being deformed. The mother of the woman asked for the pregnancy to be terminated.

"My main concern now is my daughter, she told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "When I heard that heartbeat, you will never know what it did to me. But I can't be asked to choose between my grandchild or my daughter."

Doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital scheduled an abortion for last week, reports the Sun-Sentinel, but chose not to perform it because the baby appeared to be developing normally and there was no medical reason to terminate the pregnancy.

Yesterday, the woman's newly appointed guardians asked the court to decide the fate of the 23-week-old unborn baby.

"My baby no more" the disabled woman reportedly told the judge at the hearing.

Lewis Fogle, the woman's court-appointed attorney, told Circuit Judge Arthur Rothenberg that after looking into the case and communicating with her as much as he could, he concluded she wanted an abortion.

In a brief order issued today, Rothenberg agreed to the abortion and also ordered the 28-year-old woman to undergo a tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies, reports the Miami Herald.

Rothenberg also ordered a DNA sample from the unborn baby be preserved so that police can identify the rapist, according to the paper.

The ruling may have an effect on the controversial case of a disabled 22-year-old Orlando woman who was also raped while under the care of Florida child-welfare authorities.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Gov. Jeb Bush intervened in the case, requesting a guardian be appointed to represent the interests of the unborn baby.

His involvement came after officials with the Department of Children & Families, or DCF, initially filed an emergency petition asking a circuit judge in Orlando to appoint separate guardians for the woman and the child, but later dropped the request, citing a 1989 Florida Supreme Court ruling in a landmark abortion-rights case.

Bush, who opposes abortion, overruled the agency and ordered lawyers to seek a guardian for the unborn baby.

"Given the facts of this case, it is entirely appropriate that an advocate be appointed to represent the unborn child's best interests in all decisions," Bush said in a statement. "While others may interpret this case in light of their own positions, we see it as the singular tragedy it is, and remain focused on serving the best interests of this particular victim and her unborn child."

The ACLU, along with the National Organization for Women and Center for Reproductive Rights, filed a court brief asking the court to deny the governor's request, claiming such a judgment would go against precedent that a "fetus" is not a person.

Previous article:

Governor seeks guardian for unborn baby

[cgk]

I agree with you, though that may surprise you. See post #26. I am (obviously) very passionate on this issue. But the article states the doctors had scheduled an abortion, but determined the baby was developing normally, and there was no immediate threat to the mother, so they cancelled it. What infuriated me most of all was the judge overruling the doctors on the word of a court appointed attorney who "concluded" this mentally disabled woman didn't want her baby, and the grandmother hearing the heartbeat and not listening to the doctors who saw no harm at this time, and giving life a chance. At this point, 6 months, we are talking about a healthy, normally developed baby - this according to the doctors. Delivering this baby now is no more dangerous than aborting this late-term baby. I'm no medical expert on seizures and medications, I only am speaking about what I read on the case.

[Coleus]

`

[oceanperch]

uh King Vanity would disagree with you

[hocndoc]

I still don't understand why you would choose death for this child or for anyone who is not a danger to someone else.

[Calpernia]

I'm in the middle of logging off. You caught my eye. What does that mean?

[cgk]

Thank you. And yes, I do apologize for calling her a "soul-less wench". It was my passion speaking out of turn. I had a hard time reading that she called the baby her "grandchild" and then turned around and asked for an abortion. I know she is considering her daughter's health first and foremost - the life she knows. My heart hurt that she didn't listen to the doctors, and place her faith in God.

[shhrubbery!]

So if the baby is "deformed" or "disabled," it's OK to kill it?

[najida]

Yeah, I know the truth... I read your profile... You have a lot of courage :)

I love (most) of my patients/clients/residents.....and it really hurts when the rest of the world wants to pretend they don't exist....

Or they are somehow deserving of their suffering (The elderly should have planned for their futures, the mentally ill should be locked away from sight, the MR/DD folks are 'icky' to look at, the dying deserve their fate....)

I have heard it all....

But like I said, the silence is worse.

[Calpernia]

Be more specific. Then I can answer you. That is only fair. I gave you my experiences. I stated clearly my opinion was from my experiences. Not this article.

You can't make judgements from this article. It is BS. A doctor CAN'T lend comments even though the article skewed it to make it sound that way. We don't know the woman's meds, we don't know the med history, we don't know anything. We only know what the one person was willing to say to write the article.

[Coleus]

I'm sorry your childhood wasn't so great, but life seems pretty good for you now and for your children who would have never been born. You must remember, this baby is now living and when born will have a chance to live with God for eternity.

As far as for the sterilization goes. You sound like Bob Grant! LOL, wow was he ever lambasted for saying that, but someone had to do it.

If you sterilize them then they will think they can have sex with impunity opening themselves for many psychological, health and social risks....there is no easy answer. The problem is with the rapist and men who behave the way they do. Society should deal with them as THEY are the problem and not the retarded. Just like it's the criminals fault for crime and murder not the guns.

She was the product of a Rape, she spoke last yr. at the RTL convention.
http://www.pamstenzel.com/

[oceanperch]

Sad thing is I have made plans in case I die no medical facility will agree to take him. Cost is no issue. It is all to group homes no a days and I will not send my loved one to a death camp.

We keep planning.

[cgk]

...if the grandma doesn't want to take care of it

The grandmother already referred to listening to the heartbeat of her "grandchild", so I just wish she had listened to God in helping her make a decision. It sounds like she would take this baby, but who can know?

[Under the Radar]

Excellent post.

[Calpernia]

I will answer by saying read my post #88. I was pretty discriptive there. I am trying to log off and I'm still stuck in this thread. It is way too interesting for the late hour here on the east coast.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[DLfromthedesert]

You were indeed blessed. I work in a NICU and I know that babies at this stage definitely feel pain.

What they do at this stage is use a solution to induce labor. The solution they use burns the baby's skin and is toxic.

I've seen babies born alive ater this procedure, and all we could do was try to keep them as comfortable as possible.

This is horrendous. If the pregnancy has gone this far, there is NO reason to carry it until the doctors assess that the mother's life is threatened.

This baby is right at the point of viability, and this is murder.

[Under the Radar]

Your daughter is beautiful.

[cherry_bomb88]

sad, isn't it?????

[najida]

Sad thing is I have made plans in case I die no medical facility will agree to take him. Cost is no issue. It is all to group homes no a days and I will not send my loved one to a death camp.

We keep planning.
___________
Don't give up and keep looking.

[cherry_bomb88]

personally, I don't think she should be allowed to take it. Obviously it's not much to her if she can kill it so easily.