Advertisement

Husband Still Guardian of Comatose Wife : Activists Lose Appeal to Block Abortion

Share
From Associated Press

New York state’s highest court today denied an appeal by anti-abortion activists seeking to prevent a Long Island man from having an abortion performed on his comatose wife.

Even before today’s decision by the New York Court of Appeals, a lawyer for the activists had said he would turn to the federal courts if the state court rejected the appeal.

The seven judges of the Court of Appeals, without comment, refused to hear the appeal of a lower court’s ruling that appointed Martin Klein as guardian of his 32-year-old pregnant wife, Nancy.

Advertisement

Klein has said he wants the abortion in the hopes that it will save the life of his wife. The anti-abortion activists have sought to be appointed guardians of Nancy Klein, saying her emotional health is at stake.

“I’m begging the American people to please help us,” Martin Klein said Thursday after he was rebuffed a second time in his battle to act as guardian of his wife.

‘Strangers ... Intruding’

“We’re torn up,” he said. “These strangers have come off the street and are intruding in our lives. We don’t know what to do about it.”

Late Thursday, a state appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that made Klein, an accountant from Upper Brookville, his wife’s guardian. Two members of the anti-abortion group, John Short and John Broderick, immediately appealed to the state’s highest court, which placed a stay on the decision.

“It’s just something you can’t set aside,” said Short. “Our concern is of the psychological and emotional state of Nancy Klein if she wakes up.

“Under our plan, we say the baby’s down at the neonatal clinic getting the best care possible. Under their plan, they’ve got to tell her they’ve killed her baby. Emotionally, that would kill her,” he contended.

Advertisement

In its ruling, the five-member appeals court panel had found that “ultimately the record confirms that these absolute strangers to the Klein family, whatever their motivation, have no place in the midst of this family tragedy.”

Nancy Klein, who is approximately 17 weeks pregnant, has been in a coma at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset on Long Island since a Dec. 13 car accident.

Advertisement