Pregnant Woman Fights Court-Ordered Bed Rest

[The Straight Story]

Pregnant Woman Fights Court-Ordered Bed Rest
ACLU Asks if Pregnant Women Can Be Penalized For Drinking, Speeding, Poor Eating

For three days, a pregnant Samantha Burton was confined to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital against her will, ordered by a Florida court to bed rest and any medical care necessary to sustain her troubled pregnancy.

Burton was in her 25th week of pregnancy in March 2009 when she began to go into premature labor and willingly went to the hospital on the advice of her doctor.

But when the 26-year-old resisted -- learning that she might have to stay months until her delivery, away from two toddlers at home -- hospital officials obtained a court order to force Burton to submit to anything to "preserve the life and health of unborn child."

Burton miscarried three days later and was discharged, but now she is taking up the fight over her treatment with the help of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union. They want to strike down the court order that rendered her powerless to make her own medical decisions.

This week, before a three-judge panel in Tallahassee's First District Court of Appeal, Burton's lawyers argued that the Leon County Court order set a "dangerous" precedent.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/florida-court-orders-pregnant-woman-bed-rest-medical/story?id=9561460

[virgogal]

1. I can't believe they court ordered her to bed. Outrageous.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. They should just build massive prison colonies for pregnant women.

[niyad]

9. did you ever read margaret atwood's "a handmaid's tale"?

[Hello_Kitty]

13. All women of reproductive age, really.

Because if we're not pregnant we're "pre-pregnant" and must be monitored.

[niyad]

14. yeah, who was the idiot who actually said all women had to be considered "pre-pregnant"

[niyad]

3. outrageous precedent indeed. the damned woman-hating pro-forced birthers and their ilk

will do anything, won't they? this is a wedge.

who the hell issued the order? who appointed that fool?

am I mistaken, or have I been reading cases where pregnant women who smoke or drink are actually hauled into court?

[CoffeeCat]

22. Yes, and did you notice...

...that the pregnant woman did not want to be confined to the hospital for "months" because she
had young toddlers at home.

So, apparently--those toddlers are just nothing. It's only the unborn that are worthy of
protecting and taking care of.

Unbelievable, isn't it? I can't imagine how frightened she must have been.

[rocktivity]

29. DING DING DING! CoffeeCat, you're our grand prize winner!

I can't imagine how frightened she must have been.

Frightened of losing the baby? Frightened of terminating the pregnancy before she left the hospital? Frightened of losing custody of her kids? Frightened of losing her children's father because she knew he wouldn't stick around? Too frightened to realize that leaving the hospital would guarantee a miscarriage?

:(
rocktivity

[niyad]

35. goodness, that sounds like a lot of very bitter guesswork, or is it something else>

because you certainly are not seeing the real issues here. honestly, your responses are the sort of thing one would expect to see on some other kind of board.

[winyanstaz]

51. Being forcefully confined/imprisoned in the hospital ...

may have been the cause of the miscarriage.
Stress can cause a miscarriage and by doing this to this lady, that Doctor may have been the reason the fetus aborted.
The Judge and Dr. may have also caused the two toddlers left at home untold stress and trauma as well.
This is nothing less then treating that woman like she was not a person,.,only an incubator and as a slave. They treated her as if she had absolutely no rights. They took absolutely no regard for the living children that were suddenly abandoned because of their actions.
To forcefully imprison or kidnap someone that has not broken any laws is a federal felony.

[ThomCat]

4. That hospital overstepped their authority.

It is outrageous that Any judge gave them the authority to imprison her.

This is what anti-choice beliefs lead to. Women have no rights. Women become nothing more than incubators.

This needs to be prevented from ever happening again. :(

[fishwax]

5. I hope she wins

:grr:

[niyad]

6. by the way, did anyone notice? SHE MISCARRIED ANYWAY--one has to wonder if the stress of being

treated as nothing more than a brood mare had anything to do with it?

[rocktivity]

7. I read a story about a woman who had to spend her entire pregnancy in bed

and could get up for only an hour a day, but she was able to do so at home. Had her doctor deemed it medically necessary, I'm sure she would have done so there.

When I remarked to my sister that one of her maternity ward roommates didn't look particularly pregnant, she explained that she would be spending the rest of her pregnancy in the hospital. Shortly after starting a new job, a welcome back party was held for a co-worker returning from a seven-month maternity leave. I figured she'd suffered some major post-natal complication, but she'd spent five of those months home in bed. And I know of someone who spent her last trimester in the hospital with twins. They were both alive, healthy and normal twenty four hours before she delivered, but one was stillborn.

I have to wonder if Burton understood the full implications of not obeying the medical advice--did she think the doctor was just picking on her? Yes, she had a legal right to ignore the advice, and of course staying in the hospital for so long would have been quite an inconvenience. But if miscarrying was not her ultimate goal, I can't really sympathize with her.

:shrug:
rocktivity

[niyad]

8. you seem to be completely missing all the points here-- she has two children at home, for starters.

it is NOT the damned hospital's RIGHT to FORCE her care. and, in case you haven't been paying a lot of attention to stories like this, this is just another back-door way of controlling WOMEN.

and, in case you didn't notice--SHE MISCARRIED ANYWAY

[LeftyMom]

10. Did you miss the part about having two other kids?

If nobody was able to step in and care for them for months, she might not have had a choice in the matter.

I'm not pregnant or looking to be, but if were and my choices were months and months of bed rest or a miscarriage, I'd ask for a D&C. First off, because I'm a single parent and I don't have anybody to drop anything and deal with my kid, let alone my other responsibilities, for months on end, and second because in a pregnancy that risky the outcomes would probably not be favorable anyhow.

For that matter, extended bed rest is itself a health risk for the woman.

[niyad]

12. and after all that, she miscarried anyway. there are never any guarantees

in a pregnancy, and the mortality rate for women would astound some.

[rocktivity]

16. The hosptial felt that she was IN NO CONDITION to take care of her kids

otherwise, they WOULD have let her go home.

And if she miscarried in the hospital from the stress of the controversy, she most likely would have miscarried under the stress of caring for two toddlers.

[LeftyMom]

17. Sometimes part of being a mom is doing things you're in no condition to do.

If I had a nickel for every time I've dragassed out of bed while sick to deal with my kid, make him lunch or drive him someplace, I could hire a nanny.

Unless somebody else was ready to step up and do it for her, she may have had NO CHOICE in prioritizing her existing children over maximizing the chances of continuation of a high risk pregnancy.

[niyad]

18. you are STILL MISSING THE POINT--it was NOT the hospital's place to make her health care decision

for her. show me ONE damned case where a MAN has ever had to undergo court-ordered medical treatment, when not declared non compos mentos.

[fishwax]

21. the hospital was concerned about the fetus, not her two children at home

At least, that's what is implied by the article and the quotation from the court order.

"And if she miscarried in the hospital from the stress of the controversy, she most likely would have miscarried under the stress of caring for two toddlers."

So why should she be forced to stay at the hospital again? :shrug:

[rocktivity]

28. Nobody forced her to GO to the hospital when she decided that she needed help

I'm not saying the hospital did the legal or even the right thing, I'm saying that I don't think she has a case. All the hospital has to do is argue that since Burton was not interested in terminating the pregnancy, it tried to act in the best interests by trumping her right to leave.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[TorchTheWitch]

31. WHO's best interest?

It certainly wasn't in HER best interest, nor was it the best interest of her two kids at home, and frankly, it was not in the best interest of the fetus either since the stress of her being forced to submit to medical care she didn't want being unwillingly confined away from her children she needed to care for, etc. is detrimental to the viability of that fetus.

Both the US and Florida Constitutions forbid forced medical care upon any person. She absolutely has a case and SHOULD since NO ONE by law can be forced to submit to medical care they don't want. What the HELL is wrong with you that you think that the fetus trumps her Constitutional rights? What the HELL is wrong with you that you think a pregnant woman should submit by law to medical care they don't want and denied a second opinion, to be unwillingly confined to a hospital bed she has to pay for, denied the right to care for her children and all her other personal rights?

[niyad]

33. I am still waiting for rock to respond to the rest of the court order--did you happen to see THIS

part:


*********hospital officials obtained a court order to force Burton to submit to ANYTHING to "preserve the life and health of unborn child." ************

[niyad]

32. the hospital had NO RIGHT to interfere the way it did. I have asked you to show me ONE case where a

hospital went to court because a man didn't do what the doctor instructed, a man not declared mentally incompetent. come on, just one.

[niyad]

34. I am still waiting to hear your response to the rest of that disgusting court order

namely:


*********hospital officials obtained a court order to force Burton to submit to ANYTHING to "preserve the life and health of unborn child." ************

tell us where you would draw the line--this wasn't just about bed rest--according to this order, the hospital could do ANYTHING to her in the name of "saving the fetus". would you object to forced feeding? forced drugs? forced tests? forced delivery? where would YOU draw the line, and finally say the hospital was out of line?

[Pithlet]

38. So basically you're saying the rights of her fetus trump hers.

No.

[liberalhistorian]

46. Your first two sentences totally contradict each other.

You say first that you don't think the hospital did "the legal or even the right thing." Then you turn around and say that you don't think she has a legal case. Huh?

I'm sorry to rain on your parade of dictatorial hate for this woman, and your belief that pregnant women are chattel, but, legally speaking, she most assuredly DOES have a very strong case. People in this country still have the legal right to refuse medical advice if they are of sound mind, which she was, and, legally, doctors and hospitals have no right to force what THEY think is the proper treatment on a mentally competent individual. If this is permitted to stand, the implications are truly frightening. And it will begin to extend far beyond pregnant women, believe me. Doctors are not God. Hospitals are not prisons. And women do not become chattel with no rights of their own once they become pregnant, as much as you seem to like to think they do and should be.

[winyanstaz]

52. sorry..that is not a legal argument.

You cannot decide to imprison someone just because in your opinion it is "in their best interests." That would be kidnapping and a federal felony.
The woman was not a criminal nor was she mentally incapacitated.

[niyad]

37. and did you notice that she did, in fact, miscarry?

[fishwax]

40. yep -- having your rights voided like that is bound to be stressful

:grr:

[liberalhistorian]

50. "The hospital felt", "medical advice"

yadda, yadda, yadda, yakka yakka. "Advice" and "felt" are just that, advice and feelings. They are not binding law that people are forced to abide by. At least not in this country, at least not yet. AND the most important part was that she was not even permitted to obtain a second opinion, which is an absolutely guaranteed right. That alone should weigh very heavily in her favor and she does, indeed, have a very strong legal foundation for her case.

[jmm]

53. My grandparents were in a car accident when my grandmother was pregnant with their third child.

She was encouraged to spend the last few months of her pregnancy in the hospital but she didn't want to because she had two toddlers at home. Against their advice she went home and a few months later my father was born healthy.

Doctors can be great resources when it comes to making medical decisions but they aren't always right and individuals should be able to make their own medical choices.

[mopinko]

20. so, tut tut, whatever big daddy says? wtf.

some women want a baby enough to spend months in bed. some are even lucky enough to be able to arrange that. but you must be crazy if you think that every woman that wants a baby ought to go to those kinds of lengths to sustain a pregnancy. especially for a third child.
so on top of that nuts, you add that a judge ought to be able to send her to pregnancy prison for months? and on whose dime?

[OhioBlue]

39. exactly. each woman has to be free to determine

what is best for her and her family. The docs I know usually "advise" bed rest - or "order" bed rest so you have a slip to give to your employer - but I have never heard of "court mandated" bed rest. insane.

[northernlights]

43. she had a legal right to get a 2nd opinion

Whereas that hospital and that doctor did not have a legal right to imprison her.

And, btw, no doctor is god. Doctors can be wrong. Dead wrong. Believe it or not, there are incredibly incompetent doctors out there, as well as egotistical asshole doctors with god-complexes. Not to mention that you can get as many medical opinions about a given condition as doctors -- and apparently judges -- you choose to ask.

Hey, if you want to give a single, random doctor control of your life, your family, and your body, by all means do.

But whether or not you sympathize with the rest of us, who prefer to manage our own lives and make our own healthcare decisions, is irrelevent. Kidnapping and imprisonment remain unconstitutional.

[SmileyRose]

11. the doctor who pushed for this should be widely advertised

[niyad]

19. Dr. Jana Bures-Forsthoefel

[Gold Metal Flake]

27. Yup. Just Google Dr. Jana Bures-Forsthoefel

Plenty of contact info and a picture. People need to know what kind of care this doctor and her army of lawyers will provide.

[niyad]

36. was looking for the section where one can post comments on the doctors--have a thing or two

to say to her.

[niyad]

15. the court order, by the way, was not limited to bed rest:

*********hospital officials obtained a court order to force Burton to submit to ANYTHING to "preserve the life and health of unborn child." ************

Burton miscarried three days later and was discharged, but now she is taking up the fight over her treatment with the help of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union. They want to strike down the court order that rendered her powerless to make her own medical decisions.

This week, before a three-judge panel in Tallahassee's First District Court of Appeal, Burton's lawyers argued that the Leon County Court order set a "dangerous" precedent.



"Women do not give up their right to determine the course of their own medical care when they become pregnant," said Diana Kasdan, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "Faced with similar cases, courts throughout the country have made clear that pregnant women have a right to make decisions about their own health, including refusing medical care."

......

Lisa Raleigh of the Florida Attorney General's office, who argued that the state exercised due process when it intervened to save the life of Burton's unborn child, did not return calls from ABCNews.com.

......

She willingly went into the hospital on the advice of her obstetrician, Dr. Jana Bures-Forsthoefel. But Burton argued with her doctor about the length of stay and also about her smoking.

Bures-Forsthoefel did not return calls from ABCNews.com.

[Blasphemer]

44. Absolutely absurd and extremely disturbing

Every day people make decisions that go against medical advice. The idea that a pregnant woman would have that right stripped away from her is extremely disturbing.

[ck4829]

23. Kick

[Sans Culottes]

24. K&R n/t

[niyad]

25. welcome to DU

[Sans Culottes]

30. Thanks, niyad!

:hi:

[niyad]

26. ....

[niyad]

41. ....

[barb162]

42. frightening

[niyad]

45. indeed it is, and what is also frightening is the defense of that order on this thread.

[niyad]

47. .....

[niyad]

48. ...

[shadesofgray]

49. This is beyond chilling.

[niyad]

54. . . . .