Utah Woman Charged With Murdering Fetus

[Radar]

Utah Woman Charged With Murdering Fetus
By ALEXANDRIA SAGE
Associated Press Writer

5:55 AM PST, March 12, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY — As Melissa Ann Rowland's unborn twins got closer to birth, doctors repeatedly told her they would likely die if she did not have a Caesarean section. She refused, and one later was stillborn.

Authorities charged 28-year-old Rowland with murder on Thursday, saying she exhibited "depraved indifference to human life," according to court documents. Prosecutors said Rowland didn't want to be scarred, and one nurse told police that Rowland said she would rather "lose one of the babies than be cut like that."

The case could affect abortion rights and open the door to the prosecution of mothers who smoke or don't follow their obstetrician's diet, said Marguerite Driessen, a law professor at Brigham Young University.

"It's very troubling to have somebody come in and say we're going to charge this mother for murder because we don't like the choices she made," she said.

Court documents did not list an address for Rowland, and she is not listed in telephone books for the Salt Lake City area. It could not immediately be determined whether she had an attorney.

Rowland was warned numerous times between Christmas and Jan. 9 that her unborn twins would likely die if she did not get immediate medical treatment, the documents allege. When she delivered them on Jan. 13, one survived and the other was stillborn.

The woman sought medical advice in December because she hadn't felt the fetuses move, documents said.

Regina Davis, a nurse at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake, told police that during a visit there, Rowland was recommended two hospitals to go to for immediate care. Rowland allegedly said she would rather have both twins die before she went to either of the suggested hospitals.

On Jan. 2, a doctor at LDS Hospital saw Rowland and recommended she immediately undergo a C-section based on the results of an ultrasound and the fetus' slowing heart rates. Rowland left after signing a document stating that she understood that leaving might result in death or brain injury to one or both twins, the doctor told police.

The same day, a nurse at Salt Lake Regional Hospital saw Rowland, who allegedly told her she had left LDS Hospital because the doctor wanted to cut her "from breast bone to pubic bone," a procedure that would "ruin her life."

LDS Hospital can't comment on the case because of medical privacy issues and the pending court case, said spokesman Robert Pexton.

The doctor who performed an autopsy found that the fetus died two days before delivery and would have survived if Rowland had undergone a C-section when urged to do so. It was not immediately clear how far along Rowland was in her pregnancy.

She was charged in Salt Lake County with one first-degree felony count of criminal homicide. Rowland was being held on $250,000 bail at the Salt Lake County jail, and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

If convicted, she could be sentenced to between five years and life in prison.

A spokesman for the district attorney, Kent Morgan, said Rowland is married and has other children, but he did not know how many.

"We are unable to find any reason other than the cosmetic motivations by the mother" for her decision, Morgan said.

Caesarean sections usually involve delivery through a surgical incision in the abdomen and front wall of the uterus. Dr. Christian Morgan, a family practice doctor who regularly performs C-sections at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, said he had never seen vertical skin incisions performed at LDS Hospital for a first-time C-section.

"Even when you need to get a baby out in minutes, it can still be done in the bikini incision," Christian Morgan said.

[Undertoad]

<img src="http://cellar.org/2004/woman.jpg">

Age 28 and so full of promise.

[Radar]

How she looks isn't the issue. The issue is that she is the sole owner of her body and our increasingly fascist governmental officials are charging this woman with a crime for making a decision about her own body. She is clearly not guilty of murder and the person who charged her with murder should go to prison and be gang raped in the shower.

[Troubleshooter]

Originally posted by Radar
How she looks isn't the issue.

I agree.

Originally posted by Radar
The issue is that she is the sole owner of her body and our increasingly fascist governmental officials are charging this woman with a crime for making a decision about her own body.

This part on the other hand is central to the growing debate of when abortion/fetucide occurs.

If a man can be charged with a felony for causing a woman to lose a viable fetus why can't a woman be charged with causing the death of a similarly viable fetus?

Originally posted by Radar
She is clearly not guilty of murder

Based on what criteria?

Originally posted by Radar
and the person who charged her with murder should go to prison and be gang raped in the shower.

Something I'd like to recommend is a little less ad hominum assault. It doesn't bother me personally, but it does detract from the strength of your arguments

[Slartibartfast]

Originally posted by Radar
How she looks isn't the issue. The issue is that she is the sole owner of her body and our increasingly fascist governmental officials are charging this woman with a crime for making a decision about her own body. She is clearly not guilty of murder and the person who charged her with murder should go to prison and be gang raped in the shower.

We're not talking about a three week old clump of cells here. These were fully developed BABIES that could survive outside the womb, they just needed to be let out. Does a mother have any responsibility to a baby that is about to come to term?

Now her statement to a nurse about the hospital wanting to cut her all the way up the middle makes me think she just didn't 'get' what a c-section is, or she may not be playing with a full deck - probably a bit of both.

She doesn't deserve jail, she deserves a lot of therapy.

[Troubleshooter]

Originally posted by Slartibartfast

Now her statement to a nurse about the hospital wanting to cut her all the way up the middle makes me think she just didn't 'get' what a c-section is, or she may not be playing with a full deck - probably a bit of both.

She doesn't deserve jail, she deserves a lot of therapy.

Nope, I've had it to the teeth with people needing therapy.

If it's true that she has other children then I'm more worried about them at this point.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally posted by Troubleshooter
If a man can be charged with a felony for causing a woman to lose a viable fetus why can't a woman be charged with causing the death of a similarly viable fetus?

Because the fetus is hers. Similarly, theft is a crime, but disposal is not.

[Clodfobble]

Just a thought...

If she were a Christian Scientist, and refused medical attention on religious grounds (obviously she's not, since she went to the doctor in the first place, but let's just SAY for the sake of argument since arguing is what we do best) this would not be an issue.

I say if one woman is legally allowed to refuse a C-section because of religious beliefs, then another should be allowed to refuse it because of cosmetic beliefs. Whether they BOTH should be allowed is another issue, but consistency is the key.

[Clodfobble]

Because the fetus is hers.

Wrong. The fetus is HALF hers. I'VE had it to the teeth with people thinking only women have children.

But I do suspect in this case the father agreed with whatever she wanted.

[Troubleshooter]

Originally posted by Clodfobble
Just a thought...

If she were a Christian Scientist, and refused medical attention on religious grounds (obviously she's not, since she went to the doctor in the first place, but let's just SAY for the sake of argument since arguing is what we do best) this would not be an issue.

Which is something I have an issue with.

Originally posted by Clodfobble

I say if one woman is legally allowed to refuse a C-section because of religious beliefs, then another should be allowed to refuse it because of cosmetic beliefs. Whether they BOTH should be allowed is another issue, but consistency is the key.

I agree. People really need to get their shit in one sock.

[Slartibartfast]

Originally posted by Troubleshooter


Nope, I've had it to the teeth with people needing therapy.

Then what should be done to her, dump her in jail five to life? Her act did not come from a criminal mentality, it came from a fucked up mentality.



If it's true that she has other children then I'm more worried about them at this point.


Agreed.

[Kitsune]

Wrong. The fetus is HALF hers.

Well, she could have kept half, I guess.

[OnyxCougar]

She did. One of the twins made it.

[Clodfobble]

OC, you just made my day.

[OnyxCougar]

**tips her hat** just doing my job, dwellar.