Florida Court Upholds Right Of Pregnant Woman To Determine Medical Care

[kpete]

Source: ACLU

http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2010/08-12-2010/09-1958.pdf

Florida Court Upholds Right Of Pregnant Woman To Determine Medical Care

August 12, 2010

ACLU Filed Brief In Case Of Woman Hospitalized Involuntarily

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
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Tallahassee, FL – In an important decision for the right of women to make their own medical choices, the Florida District Court of Appeal today ruled that the rights of a pregnant woman were violated when she was forced to remain hospitalized against her will after disagreeing with a hospital's recommended treatment. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of themselves and the American Women's Medical Association (AMWA) supporting the woman in her case against the state.

"Women do not relinquish their right to determine their own medical care when they become pregnant," said Diana Kasdan, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, who presented oral argument in the case along with Samantha Burton's attorney, David Abrams of Tallahassee, Florida. "We are glad that the court has upheld the constitutional right of a pregnant woman to make her own medical decisions."

In March 2009, the Circuit Court of Leon County ordered Burton – a mother of two suffering from pregnancy complications – to be indefinitely confined to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and forced to undergo any and all medical treatments the doctors there deemed necessary to save her fetus. The lower court order forbade her from transferring to another hospital of her own choosing. After three days of state-compelled hospitalization and a compelled cesarean section, Ms. Burton suffered a stillbirth and was released.

"The medical community – including AMWA, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association – has soundly rejected hospitalizing pregnant women against their will," said Maria Kayanan, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida. "Such forced medical treatment grossly invades a pregnant woman's privacy, and deters other pregnant women from seeking medical care for fear that doing so will mean that they, too, could be ordered hospitalized and subject to medical interventions against their will."

Read more: http://www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/florida-court-upholds-right-pregnant-woman-determine-medical-care

[fl_dem]

1. great news from FL....

besides Grayson, we don't have a whole lot to brag about!!! Oh, we do have this....our panhandle beaches are still beautful despite the fear they wouldn't be...

[CanonRay]

2. I hope she sues that hospital and all the docs for a billion

or two. Fucking nazis.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. The idea of forcing medical care on pregnant women smacks of the

women as breed cows mentality. "Feminism is the radical notion that women are human."

They are evidently considered less so by too many.

[Demeter]

4. I am Grateful to Her

Her suffering will save all women to come, including my two daughters, my niece, and various cousins.

[Lightning Count]

5. If you're dying can you just check out of a hospital?

I'm curious.

Can you be involuntarily committed to a hospital?

[Wildewolfe]

6. In general

you can check out anytime by signing an "against medical advice" statement. The flip side to that I understand is that can allow your insurance company to refuse paying for the treatment you already had.

Now, if the hospital really wants they can hold you for 3 days under a psychiatric hold in most states and compel treatment that way. But the limit is 3 days unless they find you are a danger to yourself, others or severally mentally disabled. That doesn't mean however they wouldn't succeed in that if you were dying and they wanted to keep you.

[Lightning Count]

10. Thanks for the clarification.

I was just curious.

[U4ikLefty]

7. Why ask this question on this thread?

Pregnant does not equal dying.

If you are curious, you can start a new thread.

[Lightning Count]

11. Just curious if there are loopholes. nt

[foxfeet]

9. Depends on state law.

In my state (WA) a competent adult has the right to refuse any/all medical care. Involuntary commitment under the mental health law can happen only when the refusal is due to a mental disorder. There are some issues around communicable diseases; for example, a person with drug-resistant TB could be involuntarily committed under public health law if he/she refuses treatment.

[Lightning Count]

13. I guess the CDC determines what diseases you can be quarantined for. nt

[ck4829]

8. This must be the slippery slope caused by the ruling on Prop 8.

First we give rights to gays and then that leads us to thinking women can actually make decisions for their own lives. Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!111!!!!!

:sarcasm:

Good ruling. "Judicial activism" in 3... 2... 1...

K&R.

[Canuckistanian]

12. There should be some further legal action here

Like IMPEACHING the Leon County judge that ordered this.

I can't think of how many amendments were violated in this "court order".

But then again, this is Florida. They seem to make their own rules there.

[secondwind]

14. Shades of Margaret Atwood! So happy the FL court rules in favor of the woman!