The issue when a fetus can be considered a person as per law came in for a debate at a trial in Connecticut. Doctor Corinne de Cholnoky from Stamford has been sued or allegedly held for a fetus death in 2011. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday at the Bridgeport Superior Court. The law suit for wrongful death was filed by Melanie and Floyd Foster accusing the doctor of rupturing the fetal membrane in the process of removing intrauterine birth control device. The death of the fetus happened after the IUD procedure and the fetus though born alive died within 2 hours. All this happened within 10 days of the procedure.
The negligence on de Cholnoky’s part was that he removed the device without getting to know Melanie was pregnant. The Fosters were not available for comment and David Slossberg their lawyer did not want to comment. From the doctor’s side, the argument was that wrongful death does not arise in the case of fetuses that are not viable. James Rosenblum the lawyer of the doctor also did not comment.
He cited the 1973 US Supreme Court decision in the Roe Vs. Wade case that legalized abortion usually at 22 to 24 weeks where the fetus is viable. The argument placed by Rosenblum was rejected by the Judge Michael Kamp. The medical experts reveal that the fetus was born alive. In such case the judge wrote, “Where the doctors refer to the birth of a baby, its life, and eventual death, one would conclude that the baby was a person, and that person died.”