ONTD Political

So even the women that would continue their pregnancy with the knowledge that their child will have a serious issue get no warning or time for preparation whatsoever. These laws continually risk the welfare of the potential children and their families even when those families are doing/would do the ""right"" thing. Great.

I'm sure most doctors, even if anti-choice, wouldn't withhold information from a pregnant woman about what's going on with her, but those that would are going to friggin love this bill.

It is stuff like this that makes me really frightened for my daughter if we return to the US. When did women become the enemy?

This can't possibly be legal, can it? How do nine states have this?

Just...what?

If the bill becomes law, Arizona would join nine states barring both “wrongful life” and “wrongful birth” lawsuits.

One state with this sort of dumb ass law on the books is one too many, but politicians want to make it ten. I can't even....

Fuck this, I'm going to go watch ponies!!!

I don't think this law is to give doctors the right to knowingly withhold information from their patients, I think it's addressing the point that if a doctor doesn't detect a problem he's not considered at fault & wouldnt have to pay for a lifetime of care for the disabled. (e.g.: md didnt force you to have a prenatal genetic test and your kid has down syndrome - assuming there were no risk factors indicating the likelihood of a genetic disorder - you can't sue the doctor just because your kid was born with down syndrome and claim that he should have known). It doesn't negate all malpractice lawsuits. If a doctor makes an egregious mistake you can still sue.


Following from: http://www.phoenixazpersonalinjuryattorney.com/2012/03/arizona-bill-may-limit-medical-malpractice-wrongful-birth-claims.shtml:

Medical advances have made it possible for prospective parents to make informed decisions about ending or continuing a pregnancy when tests show that a fetus is not developing normally. Patients don't always receive competent prenatal care or complete information from their doctors, however -- and in these cases, have long had the right to pursue medical malpractice lawsuits for wrongful birth or wrongful life under Arizona law.

Unfortunately, a new bill being considered by the Arizona Senate may make it much more difficult for plaintiffs to prevail in these types of cases.

State Senator Nancy Barto, the bill's sponsor, says it's unbelievable that "some couples, after they give birth to their child that has a disability, would claim that the child should not have been born, and would sue to get damages."

She and other proponents of the bill claim that in many cases, lawsuits are unfair because testing and normal prenatal care revealed no signs of any problem. Barto also claims that her bill would still allow parents to pursue a wrongful birth/wrongful life medical malpractice claim if there is evidence that the doctor intentionally or knowingly withheld information.

As reasonable as that may sound, the words "intentionally" and "knowingly" place a much higher burden of proof on plaintiffs than words such as "negligent" or "reckless."

What this will likely mean for future lawsuits is that absent evidence a doctor committed medical malpractice or deliberately withheld information, parents will no longer be able to recover compensation for the costs of raising and caring for these children. It will also likely absolve doctors and other licensed healthcare providers of responsibility for failing to perform tests or failing to detect birth defects evidenced in test results.

Edited at 2012-03-08 07:03 pm (UTC)

According to my grandparents (both doctors): your insurance rates can go up if you get sued, you're on record as being sued, hospitals get antsy, it takes time away from your work, not to mention the stress of being sued even if your insurance/hospital does all the work for you. I've heard this about general malpractice issues, and ob/gyns in my state have some of the worst medmal rates in the country, hence why you can't get one, so I wouldn't be surprised that it's more than just the hassle of the court process.

I don't think it was passed with tort reform in mind, either, and I am generally suspicious of tort reform in general (much better to have more accessible defense than to bar plaintiffs, IMO), but I've found that even good doctors are skittish about being sued. And much as I like to say "frivolous lawsuits are not a problem" doctors get sued a lot when it's not their fault-- often because it's a battle between insurance companies.

i cannot in good faith ever, EVER return to america if i find myself with child. really, i can't see myself returning to america at all in case i have any medical problems, seeing as i wouldn't have insurance in the first place.

wtf is going on here?

So they really do just hate us. Good to know.

What the fuck is this? WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?

So basically, we're forcing women to birth children who might not even survive long outside the womb, or will have a short life filled with extreme pain (see: Tay-Sachs). I'm glad we care about women and children.

Also, fuck you, Arizona.

If there's an issue that would kill the mother that a doctor does not say anything about, then that's a wrongful death suit instead of a wrongful birth suit. This change in the law does not effect that.

Not saying it's a good law, but you're misrepresenting the issue pretty badly there.

Thanks for the edit! :)

This isn't going to help anyone. It's just going to lead to more child abuse and murder of children with disabilities, since more of these children are going to be born to parents who a.) have no time to prepare for their child's birth and b.) are not equipped to handle a high-needs child. The abuse and murder rates for children with disabilities are significantly higher than for typical children.

Fortunately, most doctors are better than that. Still, good on them- more proof that they need voted right the fuck out of the state.