This week, London officials had their courts force an Italian woman living temporarily in that country to have a C-section delivery of her child even after she expressed fear of labor and delivery.
The decision by a British Court of Protection declared the woman was suffering delusions and under Britain’s Mental Health Act was ordered to deliver her baby via C-Section at a Hospital in Essex, east of London.
News reports say the mom of 4 was deathly afraid of hospitals and surgically-assisted child birth and had her children’s father deliver her last child using barbecue tongs at home. Officials are coming under fire for taking the baby away from the woman instead of leaving it in the custody of the grandmother. The father of the child is a Senagalese man living in London who has not been involved.
Investigations continue as to why an Italian woman was forced to stay in London for 6 weeks and then forced to give birth, USA Today reports.
Last month, a Daily Beast piece discussed the case of a New York woman and mother of three who was “forced” to have a C-Section delivery of her 4th child without prior consultation and over her objection.1
It all leads to new questions about a woman’s right to control her body over the safety and rights of the fetus she is carrying. Also, there is new questioning, also under the light of new US Supreme Court cases about women’s access to employer-funded health insurance, about contraception.
What are your thoughts on these cases?