A Florida judge has ruled that the abortion of an unborn child of a disabled rape victim can proceed, on grounds that the pregnancy could be “life-threatening” to the mother. The child is at 23 weeks gestation — almost 6 months. Late-term abortions are widely acknowledged to be more dangerous for mothers and certainly riskier than childbirth.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Arthur Rothenberg “authorized” doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital not only to abort the 6-month unborn child, but to sterilize the young woman, who is severely handicapped but was raped more than once. “I'm glad she won't have to suffer anymore,” said the unborn baby's grandmother, who wanted Rothenberg to order the abortion.
It is not clear how the case will affect a still-awaited ruling in the case of another pregnant handicapped woman in Orlando, Florida. In that case, Gov. Jeb Bush has asked the court to appoint a separate guardian for the unborn child but the judge postponed the decision.
The 22-year-old Orlando woman is about six months pregnant. She is autistic, suffers from seizure disorder and has the mental capacity of a 1-year-old.
The woman, identified in court records only as J.D.S., has been in group homes since she was 3, cannot speak for herself, has no family and does not have a legal guardian. Her lack of a guardian is a key area that separates her case from the one in Miami, where the victim’s mother has been speaking on her behalf.
Police think the Miami woman, who has the cognitive skills of a 4-year-old, was likely raped more than once.
A few medical officials have claimed the woman’s life may be in danger if she carries the child to full term. The baby also is in serious risk of mental or physical disabilities because of the woman’s medications, they said.
Yet other doctors disagreed. Doctors who specialize in high-risk pregnancies at Jackson told the judge that the baby appeared to be developing normally and there was no medical reason to force an abortion on the mother. The hospital declined to comment.
The room went silent as the woman’s mother — at Rothenberg’s request — used sign language, gestures and words to ask her daughter what she wanted. Her mother kissed her face. She asked over and over, unable to prompt a clear answer.
Finally, in barely discernible words the woman spoke: “My baby no more.”
“I understand,” Rothenberg said. “I’m confident I understand. I have no moral uncertainty.”
The woman’s lawyer claimed she appeared to be pleased with the ruling. “She can’t verbalize much of anything, but you can see by her actions that she is happy,” attorney Lewis H. Fogle Jr. said.
He did not know when the abortion would be performed.
The Miami woman’s mother says she had been told by doctors early on that pregnancy could be life-threatening to her daughter, who became disabled from bacterial meningitis when she was 3 weeks old. “I’m glad she won’t have to suffer anymore,” said the woman’s mother, who had asked the judge to allow the abortion.
“What mother doesn’t want the opportunity to be a grandmother? I’ve been robbed of that. But I feel like I was also robbed of motherhood by what happened to her, through no fault of her own, or mine,” the mother told The Miami Herald.
(This article compiled by information from Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter and LifeSite News. For more information or to subscribe go to the Pro-Life Infonet, seewww.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)
