I can only find the story being bounced around right-wing tabloids, so I’m very skeptical that it is true, or at least that it is the whole relevant truth. Does anyone know anything more about the story than can be found at a google search such as this one?
Straight Dope on the story of a handicapped woman who may, allegedly, be forced to have an abortion?
Link goes to a load of results to a photographer’s website.
I guess my feeling is that the legal guardians of this woman should have seen to it she was on reliable birth control. Then again, maybe she was and it failed, in which case, you have to wonder how the pregnancy occurred. It could be there are some suspicions of neglect and/or abuse here that are not revealed.
Anyhow - the case of a severely mentally handicapped, low functioning woman under legal guardianship is very different than the average handicapped woman who is mentally normal (more or less) and able to make decisions. The epilepsy mentioned shouldn’t be an absolute bar to having a child, but other possible physical results of fetal alcohol syndrome might, in fact, make pregnancy extremely hazardous for such a woman. In particular, heart defects could make pregnancy very dangerous. The article is extremely vague about what all is amiss with this woman so we have no way of knowing what may or may not be a factor here. If she does have such a medical problem sterilization might be, in the long run, to most advisable course of action to protect her health but forced sterilization is (rightfully so) not easy to obtain these days.
In short, there is not enough information here for me to know whether or not to be outraged over this. Unless more evidence comes to light I, for one, am content to leave this with her guardians and the court system.
That’s strange. When I click on it, it goes to a load of results from various right-wing tabloid/blog sites.
Elisa Bauer lives in an adult group home. Her adoptive parents are her legal guardians, but she does not live with them. They suspect she was raped, but accept that the sex (with they have no details of) may have been consensual (if consent is possible in her case).
The doctor recommending the abortion argues that Bauer’s seizure medication places the child at high risk. If it’s Depakote, that’s certainly true; one study estimates that 28% of children born to mothers taking the drug have birth defects. The doctor also cites her poor physical condition and prior “risky behavior,” but I have no details.
It’s quite likely that the parents, who are Catholic, have a “no abortion whatever the price” mentality, and alarmed the staff at the hospital with the determination to carry through the pregnancy. Certainly it is that same staff that alerted the government.
Focusing on Bauer’s mental condition is misguided. While it is certainly that condition that gives the court any say in the matter, as well as allowing the appointment of a guardian ad litem, it is not the reason an abortion was reocmmended in the first place.
I found a couple of legit news sites covering this story. Here’s one from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It’s really unclear what the purpose of the hearings is. From the LVRJ:
In another story from KTVN news, the Deputy District Attorney for Washoe County is quoted as saying: