Wife of sailor battles U.S. over abortion,Navy won't pay for procedure

[uppityperson]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/217156_janedoe23.html
Wife of sailor battles U.S. over abortion
Navy won't pay for procedure for woman who carried severely brain-damaged fetus

When she learned that she was carrying a baby with almost no brain and no chance of survival, a devastated young Navy wife from Everett pleaded with a federal court in Seattle to force her military medical program to pay for an abortion.

"I could not imagine going through five more months of pregnancy, knowing that the baby will never survive or have any kind of life whatsoever," the woman, then 19, told a federal judge in August 2002. "I understand that even if the baby is born alive, it will probably die after it takes a few breaths. I am really terrified of the prospect of giving birth, then watching the baby die."

She won her case and had the abortion. But more than two years later, the federal government continues to fight her, trying to get the woman and her sailor husband to pay back the $3,000 the procedure cost and trying to cast in stone a ban on government-funded abortions.

The case of Jane Doe. v. the United States will be argued before a federal appeals court next month. Like the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, involving a severely brain-damaged adult, this matter involves questions of what is human life, when can family decide to end it and how far can the government go to block that decision

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[htuttle]

1. Don't ANYONE even TRY to say the US Military is 'Pro-Life'

Madness...madness...

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Congress tied their hands some years back

they did forbid these procedures at ANY military facilty... and this was BY LAW.

I once asked a military doctor off the record about this... he said that there were valid cases where they wish they could, but them civilians establish the rules...

[denverbill]

2. I wish we had some 'right to lifers' at DU.

I'd really enjoy debating them on this one. I'd like to hear their rationale for forcing a woman to carry a severely birth-defected child through to full-term so she can watch it die in front of her, all in the name of being 'pro-life'.

[Mandate My Ass]

5. They'll show up soon

There's a rather vocal forced-birth contingent here on DU.

[Ilsa]

14. Oh yeah, they'll be here to explain

how either the doctors are wrong and the baby is fine; or that baby was placed here for a reason to teach us all something at the cost of the parents suffering further.

That poor couple. Isn't bad enough that they lost their baby, but now the military wants to bill them for it. I'm sure there is no bankruptcy protection for that, either.

[htuttle]

7. They are all busy arguing about that woman without a brain right now

[Eloriel]

8. We do. They may not respond to THIS thread, tho, but we `

definitely do. Whether they're real progressives or plants, I've never quite made up mind (nor studied their responses enough to have an informed opinion).

[denverbill]

10. I guess I have seen a few of them.

Honestly, I can understand how someone can be anti-abortion, when it's used as birth control.

But in cases like this, forcing a woman to bear a rapists child, and many others, blanket pro-life sentiment baffles me.

[katsy]

3. Okay everyone...

Pass the collection plate.

Monkey boy and bugman need about $10M to turn someone's personal tragedy into yet another political circus.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. Un-freakin-believable

<snip>

I can't understand the impetus behind the government pursuing this case," Power said of the time and expense federal lawyers have invested. Power, with lawyer Lisa Ratsinova, first argued the case successfully in 2002 as a cooperating attorney for the Northwest Women's Law Center.

"This young woman didn't have the money to pay for it herself," Power said. "Her husband is an enlisted man, and she was essentially earning minimum-wage working at the Navy Exchange, and the procedure becomes more expensive and risky to the mother the further along the pregnancy is carried. We essentially asked the court to force the government to stop withholding payment."

<snip>

"Prohibiting federal funding of abortions "reflects and effectuates a moral judgment to value all human life, including the life of an anencephalic infant."

"The government's refusal to fund abortion "furthers the government's interest in protecting human life in general and promoting respect for life," the lawyers said in their appeal.

"When federal lawyers said the government could not pay for an activity contrary to the "moral objections of many Americans," Zilly responded that "this argument has no merit. The government funds many activities such as the death penalty over the moral objections of many Americans."

Respect for life my ass. THese people are anti-woman. As soon as I saw Hyde's name on the amendment I knew this was going to be some extremely hypocritical claptrap.

[UpInArms]

15. loved that paragraph

"When federal lawyers said the government could not pay for an activity contrary to the "moral objections of many Americans," Zilly responded that "this argument has no merit. The government funds many activities such as the death penalty over the moral objections of many Americans."

You know, war is contrary to the moral objections of many Americans - guess we can't pay for that!

[HockeyMom]

9. They don't care about brain

Brain damaged, brain dead. They elected George Bush didn't they?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. Their survival depends on the brainless

If they have their way, it'll be illegal for people to be born with brains at all.

[Hamsta1]

11. WTF

Is this the end-result of "compassionate conservatism" or is this "support our troops" in action? Speaking of supporting our troops, I'd like to take a moment to thank China for supporting our troops by selling us all those nifty little ribbons that we can put on our cars to display our support.

[oldcoot]

23. Yep, this is "compassionate conservatism" at its best

It is so much better to put the mother through hell because she did not want to give birth to a child who will not survive than it is to pay for a abortion.

[Love Bug]

13. Boy, have things changed

When I was in bootcamp in 1974, one of the other gals found out she was pregnant. They gave her the choice of either having an abortion or getting a discharge and reinlisting after the baby was born. She chose the abortion. There was no question about who was paying for what.

I'm sure this situation was/is not uncommon.

[bleedingheart]

16. But bombing healthy children in Iraq is A-OK!!!

[caligirl]

17. Wife of sailor battles U.S. over abortion

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/217156_janedoe23.html

snip> "I could not imagine going through five more months of pregnancy, knowing that the baby will never survive or have any kind of life whatsoever," the woman, then 19, told a federal judge in August 2002. "I understand that even if the baby is born alive, it will probably die after it takes a few breaths. I am really terrified of the prospect of giving birth, then watching the baby die."

She won her case and had the abortion. But more than two years later, the federal government continues to fight her, trying to get the woman and her sailor husband to pay back the $3,000 the procedure cost and trying to cast in stone a ban on government-funded abortions.

The case of Jane Doe. v. the United States will be argued before a federal appeals court next month. Like the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, involving a severely brain-damaged adult, this matter involves questions of what is human life, when can family decide to end it and how far can the government go to block that decision.

Federal lawyers have aggressively appealed the Navy wife's case, often using moral arguments against abortion<

[Yosie]

18. Clearly an unconstitutional "establishment" of religion

by adopting a Fundamentalist Christian statute.

In fact, the Governments own statements admit that this is a clearly forbidden "establishment" .....

"In court documents, federal lawyers cite the Hyde Amendment and a Tricare regulation that specifically denies payment to terminate anencephalic fetuses.

"In 2003, the government lawyers also cited moral arguments for denying military medical coverage. Prohibiting federal funding of abortions "reflects and effectuates a moral judgment to value all human life, including the life of an anencephalic infant."

The government's refusal to fund abortion "furthers the government's interest in protecting human life in general and promoting respect for life," the lawyers said in their appeal.

When federal lawyers said the government could not pay for an activity contrary to the "moral objections of many Americans," Zilly responded that "this argument has no merit. The government funds many activities such as the death penalty over the moral objections of many Americans."

The Government lawyers are practically stipulating that this is an "establishment."

I went to a "faith based" (Quaker) law school -- and IMHO this is clearly "unconstitutional as applied".

[Megahurtz]

19. How much fucking more ridiculous is it all going to get???

:wtf:

I swear the U.S. is the most ridiculous fucking government ever!!!

[caligirl]

20. I was able to get on the Ed Shultz show today and discussed this case with

him. Then sent in the story to his producer.

[CornField]

21. It isn't that much different for joe blow citizens either

In 1995, I terminated a pregnancy. My son, Dakota, was anencephalic (along with numerous other NTDs).

I was about 20 weeks along when the defects were discovered by ultrasound. I went to several doctors seeking a different diagnosis... of course, there was none. I finally ended up at the University hospital where a doctor asked my permission to take my case before a state board for PERMISSION to end the pregnancy. (We were well over the legal abortion limit in the state and were required to obtain state approval in advance.) I didn't know (and I guess the doctor didn't either) that the board was subject to open meeting rules. In any event, the board denied our request. As a result, my insurance denied any type of payment for any termination procedure.

We had to not only travel to a different state to have the procedure, but we had to pay for it out of pocket.

Even today, in the case of a legal, first-trimester abortion, many insurance companies will not pay.

[caligirl]

22. thanks for the input.

[RobinA]

24. Why Is This a Surprise to Anyone

This is exactly the type of abortion that a ban on "partial birth" abortion will prohibit. As it is, the Drs who will do this sort of thing are few and far between. And I do mean far between. I live in PA. I woman I know had to go to Kansas to get a late term abortion for a seriously damaged fetus.

[Voltaire99]

25. Ah, Kubrick and Southern, if only you were alive...

...to see how reality has trumped your masterpiece.