From USA Today: 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. 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….
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.
I don’t know, we don’t seem to have much trouble charging someone for a crime when they choose to blow away a convenience store clerk. As I have repeatedly stated, I have no more sympathy for these murderous non-mothers than for death camp operators, although in this case it was a crime of omission, not a crime of commission as in the case of abortion. I don’t believe in thought crime, but I have to admit that those who believe that their potential college degree or smooth bikini line are more important than a child’s life make me feel uncharacteristically less hostile to the notion of forced sterilization.
And check out the picture – it’s not as if the doctors were contemplating ruining the Taj Mahal here.