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By DAVE JANOSKI davej@leader.net
 Friday, January 16, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 12A 





Until a landmark case in 1987, judges across the nation routinely sided
with hospitals that sought to force women to give birth by Caesarean section
against their will. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 From 1979 to 1986, judges ordered eight reluctant women to submit to
surgery when doctors testified conventional births endangered the health of
the mother, the baby or both. Nearly all of the women were opposed to the
surgery on religious grounds. In one case, Colorado police hunted down a woman
who had gone into hiding, found her bleeding in a bathtub in a friend's house
and escorted her to the hospital. In two other cases, women ignored court
orders and gave birth conventionally in other hospitals. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In every one of those cases, mother and child survived and the court orders
were never appealed to higher courts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But in 1987, the case of Angela Carder challenged the longstanding status
quo. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Carder had been diagnosed with cancer at 13, but after radiation,
chemotherapy and the removal of her left leg and hip, the cancer went into
remission. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At the age 27, after three cancer-free years, she married and became
pregnant. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But in her 25th week of pregnancy, doctors at George Washington University
Medical Center in Washington, D.C., found a tumor in her lung. Carder chose to
undergo more chemotherapy and radiation, accepting the risk to her fetus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But her condition deteriorated before the treatments could begin and the
hospital sued to force a Caesarean over Carder's objections. She and the baby
were dead two days after the surgery. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Carder's family subsequently had the court order overturned by a District
of Columbia appeals court. They also sued the hospital, settling for an
undisclosed sum. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then, in 1994, a 22-year-old woman successfully fought a Chicago hospital's
bid to force her to submit to a Caesarean. The Illinois Supreme Court and U.S.
Supreme Court heard arguments, but refused to allow further appeals. She gave
birth to a healthy baby. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But not all judges have followed suit. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In 2001, a Florida judge ordered a Caesarean after a telephone hearing with
a hospital attorney and doctor. The parents, who were not consulted, had
opposed the surgery on religious grounds. Mother and child survived. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

'87 Case Changed Courts' Attitude