[News-releases] NOW Condemns Utah Murder Prosecution for Delayed Cesarean Delivery

"The prosecution of Melissa Ann Rowland is appalling for so many reasons, I hardly know where to begin," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "This woman, who has a lifelong history of mental illness, is being prosecuted for not following a doctor's advice regarding her pregnancy - actually she did follow it, but just not quickly enough to suit the Salt Lake prosecutor. Some doctors may think they are God, but when did 'doctor's orders' become the law?"

Authorities in Salt Lake City have now charged 28-year-old Melissa Ann Rowland with the murder of one of her twins, who was stillborn in January. Rowland was advised by doctors to have a cesarean section, but Rowland refused, having experienced the invasive procedure in two prior deliveries where she had been cut "breast bone to pubic bone."

She did eventually have the "c-section," but is being prosecuted because she didn't have it early enough -- on the theory that the stillborn twin might have survived if she had delivered earlier. One day after the operation, she was jailed on endangerment charges because drugs were reported to be in the system of the surviving twin. "This is absolutely inhumane treatment," said Gandy. "This woman had major surgery on one day and was thrown into jail the very next day. I imagine that it was very apparent to these people that this woman was mentally ill, suffering from addiction and loss, and in considerable pain. What is wrong with these people?"

"Our legal system recognizes every person's right to bodily integrity and the right to make your own medical decisions. You can't force a father to donate a kidney, or bone marrow or even blood to save his child's life -- yet Utah is prosecuting a woman for murder because she delayed having a cesarean section! Where will the pre-natal police be stationed?" asked Gandy, "Will pregnant women risk prosecution for having wine with dinner? Will women be prosecuted for taking their own life-saving medications because those drugs might harm the fetus? Where will it stop?"

"This is an example of 'fetal rights' replacing the bodily integrity and autonomy of women under the law," said Gandy. "When a woman becomes pregnant, she does not give up her rights to personal autonomy."

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