Utah murder charge appropriate

   A woman in Utah has been charged for murder after she refused to have a Caesarean section that could have saved the life of one of her twin babies, who was stillborn.
   This case has caused controversy between the courts and medical profession, centering over whether a pregnant woman has the right to refuse medical advice.
   Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, was warned three weeks before her delivery that one of her unborn twins was at risk if she did not get a C-section. She refused the operation, saying she feared scarring, and left the hospital after signing a document saying she understood leaving the hospital could result in the death or significant brain injury to one of the babies.
   Later that day, at another hospital, Rowland told a nurse she left the first hospital because the doctor wanted to cut her “from breast to pubic bone” and “ruin her life.”
   Rowland conceded to the Caesarean section after arriving at a hospital in labor. But she was too late.
   One of the babies, a boy, was dead, and the other, a girl, tested positive for cocaine and alcohol in her blood.
   Rowland’s vanity caused the death of her son, and her actions show no love for her babies since she used drugs through her pregnancy and contacted adoption agencies.
   Ann Lamphere, director of Adopt an Angel in Salt Lake City, said Rowland contacted at least four Utah adoption agencies before going with a California facilitator.
   Rowland was jailed the next day on an endangerment charge for allegedly taking drugs that harmed the girl. Bail for the endangerment and homicide charge was $75,000.
   If convicted, she will face five years to life in prison.
   Lamphere said Rowland called her from jail and said she wanted to place her unborn child for adoption although the child already had been born.
   “ Rowland wanted the agency to bail her out of jail,” Lamphere said.
   Rowland’s attorney claimed his client was hospitalized in a mental facility when she was 12 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
   Kent Morgan, spokesman for Salt Lake D. A. David Yocum, said, “The collective acts of the defendant show that she evidenced a depraved indifference to human life.”
   Dr. Robert Lorenz, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said patients deserve the right to make a decision about how they are going to be cared for.
   “ Justice implies everybody should be treated the same. We would not take a man to court to do surgery on him. This obviously violates that principle of justice,” he said.
   Morgan said, “What we’re trying to send is the message that someone has to stand up for a child who could have been born.”
   Rowland is responsible for her actions. If she is mentally ill, that illness has not kept her from trying to manipulate the system. She had no regard for her children. She had the right to decide earlier about her choices, but her indecision killed one child and harmed the other. She deserves punishment.