
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 15, 1993                   TAG: 9312150206
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

STATE MAY NOT FORCE C-SECTION, JUDGES RULE

The state appeals court refused to order a pregnant woman to have a Caesarean section that doctors say could save her baby from brain damage or death.

The Illinois Appellate Court's unanimous ruling Tuesday upholds a lower court's refusal to order the woman to undergo the operation.

"The court recognized obviously the woman's fundamental right to follow her own conscience," said Colleen Connell, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented her.

The baby's court-appointed public guardian promised to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Doctors say the baby, which is two weeks shy of full term, is being deprived of oxygen and will die or suffer severe brain damage unless it is surgically removed from the womb.

The 22-year-old mother, who is a Pentecostal Christian, says the surgery would be against her religious beliefs. She says God will protect her baby through miracles. The woman is identified in court records as "Mother Doe."

- Associated Press

by CNB