Health Law

Defense Invokes Roe v. Wade in Birth Injury Case

Officers from Wayne County Jail in Michigan are being sued for injuries suffered by Chelsie Barker during her birth 10 years ago, and attorneys for their defense are arguing that the officers are not liable for the girl's injuries because she had no constitutional rights before she was born.

The lawsuit filed against the officers claims that they violated Chelsie's constitutional rights by failing to get her jailed mother to the hospital for a safe delivery. However, the defense has cited the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade, claiming that as a fetus Chelsie did not have rights as a person under the 14th Amendment.

That argument is a stretch.  Roe v. Wade has little to do with Chelsie's birth, a fact with which U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III seems to agree. The judge described her injuries as 'continuous,' occurring both before and after birth and said 'there is no principled reason to distinguish' between them.
 
Irreversible Brain Damage
Chantrienes Barker was taken to Hutzel Hospital shortly before Chelsie's birth but was discharged before the baby was born. Back at the jail, Barker's labor pains intensified. For two hours, she was left without treatment while other inmates tried to alert the guards.

Chelsie was not breathing when she was born and the paramedics did not have the equipment to resuscitate her, the lawsuit states. She was taken to the hospital, but suffered brain damage as a result of the oxygen deprivation.

Lack of oxygen can cause significant injury including cerebral palsy. In Chelsea's case, the brain damage was so severe that she will require round-the-clock care for the rest of her life.






 

Full post as published by Cerebral Palsy Law Blog on March 02, 2009 (boomark / email).