Woman
charged with murder for refusing C-section
On March 12, 2004, a flurry of national media reports highlighted the case
of Melissa Ann Rowland, a Utah mother charged with criminal homicide in the
death of a fetus for refusing to undergo a Caesarean section. Rowland, 28,
was pregnant with twins when she sought treatment at several medical centers
in Salt Lake City. On at least two occasions, doctors who examined Rowland
recommended an immediate C-section based on indications of fetal distress,
but Rowland—who has a long history of mental illness—declined.
The twins were later delivered by C-section—a boy was stillborn; a girl
survived and was placed, by prearrangement, with an adoptive family. If convicted
of “depraved indifference” in the death of the male fetus, Rowland
faces life in prison
Prior to giving birth,
Rowland lived in a Salt Lake City suburb, subsisting on Social
Security and disability benefits. She has been incarcerated
since early January under a Utah law permitting criminal prosecution
of women who abuse drugs or alcohol during pregnancy (the surviving
twin tested positive for cocaine and alcohol exposure). Doctors
and nurses who treated Rowland at one hospital stated Rowland
disregarded their recommendation to undergo a C-section because
she was concerned about the possibility of vertical scarring.
Rowland denies she ever put concerns about her appearance above
the safety of the babies and says her two older children, who
live with their paternal grandparents, were also delivered
by Caesarean.
While many mothers
(and others) may not be moved to sympathy over the plight of
a woman who allegedly endangered her unborn children by ignoring
the warnings of trained medical professionals, the prosecution
of Melissa Rowland is deeply troubling on several levels. First
and foremost, the charges levied against Rowland suggest pregnant
women fall into a special legal category where an individual’s
right to refuse medical intervention is subordinated by the “rights” of
a fetus. The conceptualization of “fetal rights” and “fetal
abuse” in state criminal and civil statutes is, of course,
a key strategy of anti-abortion lobbyists who hope to use these
laws as a stepping stone for overturning Roe v. Wade. On the
other hand, the representation of pregnant women as lesser
persons in the eyes of the law is only a short leap from regressive
cultural attitudes that presume any mother displaying a modicum
of self-interest is neglecting the critical needs of her child.
The political fervor
over fetal protection laws seems especially cynical considering
the general lack of interest in expanding government programs
to help needy families gain access to adequate resources—such
as preventive health care, affordable housing, child care,
education, and livable wages—so that more babies and
children can lead safe and healthy lives once they’re
actually born. Or how about expanding access to high quality
pre-natal care—including mental health care and drug
and alcohol treatment—for uninsured and underserved women?
Not to mention universal paid parental leave for working mothers,
which would go a long way for women who might be worried about
losing a job or paying the rent during the six-plus week recovery
from a C-section.
Information
in this article was based on reports from the Salt Lake
Tribune, Associated Press and Deseret Morning News.
For more information
and research about the criminal prosecution of pregnant women
in the U.S., visit the Advocates
for Pregnant Women web site.
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Time magazine covers at-home moms
Professional women who abandon up-and-coming careers to stay at home with their
kids are the subject of another high-profile cover story—the latest investigation
of this often-abused topic appears in Time magazine (“The Case
for Staying Home”, March 22, 2004).
It turns out that Time’s
reporting on the issue is refreshingly well-balanced compared
to recent coverage of the so-called “opt-out
revolution” in the New York Times. Claudia
Wallis, the story’s lead writer, skillfully
captures the role of workplace dynamics in the exodus of talented
women from elite professional positions and argues—quite
effectively—that there are typically more complex factors
at play in a mother’s decision to forgo paid employment
than a desire to yield to the pull of maternal love. Two side
articles–one by The Two-Income Trap co-author
Amelia Warren Tyagi on the economic necessity of paid work
for most middle-class mothers and another by journalist Michael
Eliot on the how the realities of contemporary life undermine
the ideal of shared parenting—round out the main feature.
There is not even a hint of the dreaded Mommy Wars in Wallis’s
tight reporting, which is almost unprecedented in popular journalism
that wanders anywhere near the topic of mothers and paid employment. The
only thing really missing is fuller acknowledgement that work-life
conflict encroaches on the economic stability and quality of
life of all parents—not just middle- and professional-class
married couples. Omissions aside, mothers’ advocates
now have a glimmer of hope that future forays into serious
reporting on motherhood will take the lead of Time’s
informative, clear-headed example.
Time magazine: The
Case for Staying Home
(full text may
not be accessible to non-subscribers)
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Elsewhere
on the Web:
Recent news and commentary of note
From
Women’s
eNews (www.womensenews.org) A
Mother’s Place Is in the Women’s Movement
By Elizabeth Bauchner, WeNews commentator
In observance of Women's History month, Elizabeth Bauchner looks at how early
feminism spearheaded social reforms, but left women in the home. The second
wave focused on the work force. Now, she says, it's high time to fight for
mothers' rights.
Women
Sharpen Views on Social Security Run
By Marianne Sullivan, WeNews correspondent
With women having the most to win or lose from changes in Social Security,
legal experts and other activists are sharpening their arguments about a major
issue in the presidential campaign.
From The
Boston Globe “Boston Works” section
(www.bostonworks.com):
Parents’ stress
over care gap often disrupts work
By Maggie Jackson, Globe Correspondent, 3/14/04
Two Brandeis University researchers have completed the first study measuring
how parental angst over after-school arrangements translates into on-the-job
disruptions. Parents who are somewhat or considerably worried about after-school
care, for instance, are three times as likely to report high levels of job
disruptions.
For
maximum efficiency, call on a mother
By Miranda Daniloff Mancusi, Globe Correspondent, 2/22/04
The skills of a mother could significantly increase her organization's productivity
through her talents for assessing priorities, maximizing time, multitasking,
and efficiency.
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National
Council of Women’s Organizations
offers comprehensive
voter’s guide
The NCWO (www.womensorganizations.org),
an umbrella group of over 200 women’s organizations, has published The
ABC Guide to Women’s Issues, a voter guide explaining 16 policy
issues important to women. Issues covered include child care, paid
family leave, health care, Social Security,
and welfare reform. Each topic offers examples of questions
for candidates, and the booklet includes a section on “The ABCs of Raising
Women’s Issues.” The full edition of this attractive, easy-to-read
guide is available for download (in .pdf) from the NCWO Web site.
The
NCWO ABC Guide to Women’s Issues
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Welfare
reform:
Child care shortfall, Working Moms in a Bind
In February 2004 the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
(www.clasp.org) released
an analysis of state funding for child care assistance to low income families.
According to the report, funding shortfalls are forcing states to enact restrictive
policies that are hurting poor families and efforts to promote their employment
and earnings, and the Bush Administration’s recently proposed FY 2005
budget would make this situation even worse. Child
Care Programs Help Parents Find and Keep Jobs:
Funding Shortfalls Leave Many Families Without
Assistance
By Jennifer Mezey, February 10, 2004
In an article available
from the AlterNet news service (www.alternet.org), Heather
Boushey of the Center for Economic Policy
Research looks at welfare reform and which aspect
of the program have helped TANF recipients find jobs and care
for their families. Boushey notes that changes currently under
consideration would cut funding for child care assistance while
increasing work hour requirements.
Working
Moms in a Bind
By Heather Boushey, Center for American Progress, March
8, 2004
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NOW
Legal Defense and Education Fund
Family Initiative for Better Child Care
A project of NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (www.nowldef.org),
the goal of the Family Initiative is to educate, engage and
mobilize families from all walks of life to support major public investment
in quality child care, preschool and afterschool. A downloadable report explains “what
child care and early education choices parents have today (including some “best
practices”), and how, working with families, communities, businesses,
unions and government, we can and must create better quality, more affordable
choices.” This report is clearly written and highlights all the key issues—a
great tool for advocacy or education on child care policy. Other resources
and publications are also available from the Family Initiative Web
site (www.familyinitiative.org).
NOW
Legal Defense and Education Fund Family Initiative:
Better
Child Care, Preschool and Afterschool (in
.pdf)
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Current
Divorce Statistics
For those interested in all the gory statistical details of marital dissolution
in the U.S., Divorce Magazine.com (www.divorcemag.com)
has compiled facts and figures from several government and independent sources
to create a quick reference. Unfortunately, individual entries aren’t
cited to the original source, so the information is of limited use. But isn’t
it great to know that as of 2002, the average drop in the standard of living
for females after divorce is 45% and that 380,000 women are stalked by their
ex-husbands each year? And by the way, in 1998 there were 9.68 million single
parent women and just 2.04 million single parent men. Guess which group is
twice as likely to be living in poverty? U.S.
Divorce Statistics compiled by Divorce Magazine.com
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— MMO
March 2004 |
