Attorney: Disabled Miami woman's pregnancy TERMINATED (FL rape case)

http://www.heraldtribune.com ^ | 5-30-03 | AP

[OXENinFLA]

Attorney: Disabled Miami woman's pregnancy terminated print

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The Associated Press

A fetus in its 24th week of development has been aborted by doctors who said the life of the mother - a retarded, deaf and seizure-prone rape victim - would be threatened if the baby was carried to full term, an attorney said Friday. The abortion and tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies were performed late Thursday at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said Lance Block, who represents the disabled woman's mother. Miami-Dade police took DNA samples from the fetus in an effort to identify the father, whom officials believe raped the 28-year-old woman, he said. The victim is "doing well" despite the tragedy she has been a part of, he said. In a statement released Thursday by Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the judge who oversaw the case, Arthur Rothenberg, said the disabled woman's mother strongly objected to any other solutions. She "did not want her daughter to be subjected to any more of an invasive procedure than was absolutely necessary to terminate the pregnancy and for a tubal ligation," Rothenberg said.

[cgk]

Yes, it is suspected she was raped, many many times. The Free Will I am speaking of is not hers to make with the mental capacity of a 4 year old. Her Free Will has been translated as "My Baby No More" meaning "I don't want It" as opposed to "My Baby No More?", a question, trying to understand what she was being told, which could be the meaning as well. How can someone with her mental disability possibly understand the concept of abortion?

I am speaking of the Free Will of the mother and the Judge - who had the option to deliver the baby and allow it to continue living. The Judge ordered a tubal ligation - a procedure requiring surgery, and the opening of her stomach. The baby could have been delivered as opposed to killed.

[MineralMan]

"Your deity seems to be absent.
He will "seem to be absent" until the Apocalypse. Then there will be a "new heavens and new earth.""

Yes, yes. Christendom has been saying that for a couple of thousand years now. So far, no go. And there have been plenty of nasty things happening that far eclipse abortions. Where is your deity? I wouldn't hold my breath, if I were you.

[mickie]

There are thousands of open arms waiting to love and adopt this baby........abortion is murder.

[Nonstatist]

Yes, it is suspected she was raped, many many times

Suspected ?! Is there any other possibility for a deaf, retarded woman with the intelligence of a 4 year old?

The woman didnt ask for this baby, it was the result of an assault on her person. Disagree with the mother's understanding of reality, if you like, but demonizing her for putting her daughter's life first is really beyond the pale, IMO.

[cgk]

Yes, that is what the AP articles say again and again. "Suspected." It's a quote.

I didn't demonize her in this post. I did in another thread, and apologized for using such harsh, despicable language like "wench."

I don't apologize for believing, since she referred to the baby as her "grandchild" after listening to its heartbeat, that she should and could have chosen to allow the baby to continue living as it was already 24 weeks old (6 months), and didn't need to be killed, as it was developing normally. The doctors themselves first cancelled the scheduled abortion, due to the baby developing normally and the mother's health not being in any immediate danger. They were overruled by the mother and the court.

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

><> Where is your deity? I wouldn't hold my breath, if I were you. <><

I wouldn't hold my breath either, you might pass out..

seriously, though, a person that truly knows the Lord doesn't have to spend time 'proving' He exsists. They KNOW He does.

Oh, we speculate on His intervention here, or lack of intervention there, we speculate on His return. The only thing we know for sure is that He exsists, because we've accepted Him through faith and He's shown Himself to us.

Unless you taste an apple, you don't know how an apple tastes.

Unless you 'taste' my Lord, don't be so quick to discount Him.

[MichiganMan]

Ugly stuff has been going on for millenia, but no sign of any gods

Hmmph, you obviously were't present at the birth of my beautiful baby girl...

As they say, God works in mysterious ways. To try and divine His will from worldly events is akin to and infinitely beyond bacteria trying to understand the theories of Stephen Hawking.

[muskogee]

"Ugly stuff has been going on for millenia, but no sign of any gods."
I think ugly stuff has been going on far longer than millenia, but so has beautiful stuff. Millenia are microseconds in a cosmic view. How can a person define ugly without having witnessed the beautiful?

[onedoug]

God cares.

[whereasandsoforth]

They took DNA samples from that 24-week-old blob of inert tissue?? You mean it had it's own DNA??? Wouldn't that make that blob of tissue an individual? I'm so confused.

[Nonstatist]

I think if it were me, I might have opted for saving the baby. OTOH, what if the woman's early on doctors were right and the mother died during childbirth? How would you feel then?

[sbw123]

Are people on the this post really saying a retarded girl with the mental capacity of a four year old SHOULD become a mother? What the hell is wrong with you people?

[Thinkin' Gal]

The victim is "doing well"

Nice touch, even though there is one dead innocent victim here. At least the blood isn't on the hands of the deaf retarded woman.

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

i was also wondering why they called the rapist the possible "father" .. kinda hard to be a father to a non-human blob with no rights. /sarcasm off

[cgk]

I would feel terrible, of course. As terrible as I do about the baby being killed. I am not a heartless person who sees only one view in this. I pray for all involved. We live in an age where women dying during childbirth is exceptionally rare. For the woman to die delivering a baby who is the result of rape would be the nightmare situation.

But, due to the severity of the woman's health - she never would have been allowed to proceed to delivering a full-term baby. She has a history of brain seizures, something (I don't know the terminology) in her skull to drain fluid from her brain, and takes anti-seizure medications.

The doctors cancelled the scheduled (court-ordered) abortion at 23 weeks of pregnancy, because the woman was in no immediate danger and the baby was developing normally. They reported this information back to the Judge, because they just couldn't deliver the baby, as a baby by C-section, without consent. I have no doubt if they had received the go-ahead, they would have delivered the baby and been able to assist it in any way possible to assure its survival as a preemie. They never received it (consent), which I find to be terribly sad.

[muskogee]

We gave my sister-in-law a mother's day card and she is only 6 months along. This IS (not will be) her first child. She is a good (not retarded) mom so far.

[cgk]

I called Liberty Counsel and thanked them for trying to speak for the baby in this case, as well as the woman. The girl on the phone was very sad, and grateful to hear from a supporter. They fight the tough fights and while they sometimes have legal successes, sometimes they lose. And losing like this makes the soul ache. I felt a little better. I will definitely be supporting them as I can.

[tiamat]

Everybody here who is "Pro-Life" had better get to work making it easier to adopt in this country.

It is almost impossible to do so. I know, I have tried.

I miscarried several times when I was younger.
My husband and I desperately wanted a child, and eventually began the proceedure to adopt in Michigan. We had been married for years, my husband had worked in the same industry for over 10 years, and we had PAID OFF our first home.
Sadly, my husband is an epileptic. We were told that we were "unsuitable" adoption candidates. Despite the fact that we are stable, and, as it turns out, he IS a wonderful father.

Finally, we were blessed later in life with our Caitlin. She is our wealth and the light of my life.

These "Pro-Life" threads make me angry. Abortion is a problem. I hear all kinds of teeth-gnashing about how evil it is. But I see little in the way of activity to get children into good homes.

What happened to the woman in Florida is evil, from start to finish. If I could, I would castrate the rapist before I hanged him.

I'm angry.

HERE is a question for the debate: " Who here would have opened their home , loved, provided for, and taken responsibility for that child that raped woman would have had?"

Tia

[Nonstatist]

they would have delivered the baby and been able to assist it in any way possible to assure its survival as a preemie

Pretty risky circumstances, you must agree.

As far as I'm concerned, in this case, if its between the life of the mother and the life of the baby, I take the mother every single time out, even a "retarded" mother. She is a true victim here, assaulted and raped and impregnated against her will. Theres enough gray in this case to concede that reasonable people may disagree about what to do, don't you think, perhaps ?

[OXENinFLA]

Are people on the this post really saying a retarded girl with the mental capacity of a four year old SHOULD become a mother? What the hell is wrong with you people?

Um, No I don't think that is even a point.

> You don't find anything wrong w/ a judge ORDERING an Abortion to kill a viable baby that could be put up for adoption?