Het zal je moeder maar wezen

quote:

Woman Named in Twin Death Had Conviction
_{Woman Accused of Killing One of Her Tiwn by Ignoring C-Section Advice Has Previous Conviction}


SALT LAKE CITY March 13 — The woman charged with killing one of her twins by refusing a Caesarean section was convicted of child endangerment in Pittsburgh nearly four years ago, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The 2000 conviction of Melissa Rowland stemmed from a supermarket incident in which she punched her daughter several times in the face after the toddler picked up a candy bar and began eating it, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Witnesses said Rowland screamed, "You ate the candy bar and now I can't buy my cigarettes."

An Allegheny County, Pa., court sentenced Rowland to five years probation for simple assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Her daughter was turned over to a child-welfare agency.

Prosecutors in Salt Lake City charged Rowland Thursday with criminal homicide and child endangerment for refusing doctors' advice to get a C-section. Charging documents allege that Rowland was warned numerous times between Christmas and Jan. 9 that her twins would likely die if she did not get immediate medical treatment.

One of the twins, a boy, was stillborn Jan. 13. A girl survived and has since been adopted, but prosecutors say she tested positive for cocaine and alcohol.

Rowland, 28, of the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, has denied prosecutors' claims that she avoided the surgery because of fears of scarring.

A call after hours to Rowland's attorney, Michael Sikora, was not immediately returned. Sikora has said Rowland has a history of mental illness. Rowland said she attempted suicide twice and has spent time in a psychiatric hospital.

In a jailhouse interview with The Associated Press Friday, Rowland said her two children from her estranged husband have lived with his parents since 1997. She did not mention the prior conviction and said her children, ages 7 and 9, no longer live with her because she thought they were better off with their grandparents.

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Op zondag 14 maart 2004 05:52 schreef McGyver het volgende:
Lees je verhaal eens na, het barst van de taalfouten ga eens slapen !!!

En nee, ik had mijn kwakje er ook niet in geloosd, maar das daargelaten !!!

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Op zondag 14 maart 2004 08:04 schreef daeri het volgende:
misschien was het INF, of sperma donor ofzo.... maar het had nooit mogen gebeuren, ze hadden die keizersnede gewoon moeten geven ookal werd haar buik er lelijk van!

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The Utah woman charged with homicide for refusing her doctor's recommendation that she undergo a caesarean section (one of her twins died as a result) has asked to be committed to a psychiatric facility. She's also offered to be sterilized in return for criminal charges being dropped.

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Op woensdag 7 april 2004 08:51 schreef BansheeBoy het volgende:

[..]

Dat is krom, het is toch haar eigen kind. Ze is neem ik aan baas ie eigen buik, of niet ?

quote:

Mother pleads guilty to lesser counts of child endangerment
Murder charge dropped for Utah woman in C-section case
Wednesday, April 7, 2004 Posted: 12:28 PM EDT (1628 GMT)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- The woman accused of murdering one of her twins by failing to undergo a timely Caesarean section pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of child endangerment.

Melissa Ann Rowland had been charged with murder for failing to follow doctors' advice to undergo the procedure, which they said was necessary to save the life of her twins. Under a plea bargain, the murder charge was dropped.

Prosecutors said Rowland, 28, acted with "depraved indifference" when she allegedly ignored doctors' repeated warnings to undergo a C-section to save the babies' lives.



On Wednesday, she admitted using cocaine in the weeks before she finally underwent the C-section that produced a stillborn boy. The second child, a girl who survived and has been adopted, was found with cocaine and alcohol in her system.

Rowland was sent back to jail after the hearing, during which she showed little emotion but appeared disappointed when the judge denied a request to release her from custody until sentencing on April 29.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend that Rowland receive concurrent terms of zero to five years in prison, court probation and admittance to a drug treatment program.

Rowland has said she never intended to kill her baby and was not informed she needed immediate surgery. She denied prosecutors' allegations she was worried about a scar, saying she delivered two previous children through C-sections.

Her attorney, Michael Sikora, has said Rowland suffers from mental illness.

"She decided it was in her best interest to resolve the case as soon as possible, and I support her in the decision she made," Sikora said outside the courtroom.

Salt Lake County prosecutor Langdon Fisher said the plea agreement was reached based on Rowland's "mental health history." Prosecutors had originally dropped the child-endangerment charge and planned to use evidence that Rowland used cocaine to bolster the murder charge.

"We believe these pleas are in the interest of justice," Fisher said.

The National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union and others have said prosecutors went too far, calling the case a back-door effort to undermine abortion rights and an attack on a poor, possibly mentally ill person.

Legal experts said they do not know of any other instance in the United States in which a woman was charged with murder for refusing or delaying a C-section, though some women have been forced to undergo C-sections after their doctors obtained court orders.