More and more doctors are asking courts to resolve this question: Who has the final say in childbirth options? The most recent case involves a Philadelphia woman who, after giving birth naturally to six children who each weighed about 12 pounds, was told by Wilkes-Barre General Hospital doctors that she had to deliver her seventh, an 11-pound, 9-ounce girl, by Caesarean section.
Even with her track record, doctors refused to reconsider. So, Marlowe went to find a new doctor. While she did this, the hospital went to court to get legal guardianship of her unborn child. And for what purpose? The doctors did not offer Marlowe any real reason she should have the operation and give birth as she had done six times before. Yet, doctors believed their arbitrary reasoning was enough to go to court and take legal guardianship away from the mother.
By the way, this arbitrary advice was wrong. Marlowe went to another hospital and described her quick, natural birth as a piece of cake
according to CNN. Marlowe said the situation where doctors -who did not know anything about her -were making decisions about her body was terrifying.
She's absolutely right. Doctors should exist to protect, advise and help. Forcing such a procedure on a woman is not only irresponsible but, as Marlowe herself said, terrifying. Childbirth decisions ultimately belong to patients. Cases like Marlowe's highlight a growing national trend of legal officials interfering with women's choices about pregnancies.
But, even legal experts admit prosecuting pregnant women or forcing them to undergo certain medical procedures is based on shaky ground. Courts have clearly dictated that people have the right to refuse treatment. Decisions such as this create a dangerous slippery slope. What's next -women being imprisoned for not seeking prenatal care or wanting to have natural, home births?
Hospitals should never take legal guardianship of unborn children. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said physicians should refrain from performing unwanted procedures and the use of courts to resolve conflicts is almost never needed. Doctors across the country should take their own advice, especially if they expect their patients to do the same.
A teacher's touch for a failing system
Multiple Ohio Supreme Court decisions regarding school funding have not worked to fix the problem with how the state supports public schools. So, educators in Belmont County are trying something new. They have introduced a standard not unlike that which lawmakers use to evaluate school districts and that which teachers use to evaluate their students -a report card.
The report card would be based on the legislator's track record of supporting schools as well as a survey. Together, the report card will give the representatives a grade of A through F on more than 18 categories, views and opinions, including whether the state is responsible for giving the school funding system a complete, systematic overhaul and if the state must assume the full cost of a thorough and efficient education for all students. Legislators who fail or refuse to fill out the survey will be given an incomplete, and failure to respond in three weeks will result in a grade of F.
If various Ohio Supreme Court decisions could not change the system, this report card will probably have little if any real effect on legislators already in office. But what it does provide is an easy-to-read voter information guide when it comes to school funding. It is also a proactive response from those working in the daily grind. With the disregard the General Assembly has shown toward school funding, the only way to initiate real change is to keep the debate alive. School funding has for too long been an issue on the back burner, and it is only through spotlights like these report cards that the debate remains alive.
These Belmont officials have set a standard for which all counties should work. Especially in a county such as Athens, which has the poorest district in all of Ohio -Trimble -being able to keep an eye on our elected officials to make sure they complete their campaign promises is of paramount importance. The overhaul of the school funding system will take time, but those fighting for change should be applauded. 17
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