Family Wins Settlement Over Forced Cesarean

The parents of a cancer patient who died shortly after being forced to undergo a Cesarean section have ended their three-year battle, winning an unprecedented settlement that the ACLU called “an important victory for women’s rights.”

“All through her short life, Angie wanted to help other people,” Nettie Stoner said of her daughter, Angela Carder. “Through her last tragedy, little did she know that even though she would not be here, she would continue to help people.”

The settlement Monday between George Washington University Hospital and Carder’s family includes a monetary award and an agreement by the hospital to establish policies protecting pregnant women’s rights to determine their medical treatment. Both parties agreed not to disclose the size of the award.

“We did not want the dollar amount to overshadow what we think is the more significant outcome of the case, which is the policy perspective,” said Terry Thorton, an attorney working with the ACLU who represented the family.

Carder, 27, a terminal cancer patient at the hospital, died in 1987, two days after doctors performed a Cesarean section, ordered by a lower court, in an attempt to save the life of her 26-week-old fetus. The baby died less than three hours after the operation, which was listed as a contributing factor in Carder’s death.

Carder’s parents, who live in Clarksville, Md., appealed the order, saying that their daughter, who was conscious and coherent at the time of the operation, did not give informed consent. Further, the family charged that the surgery violated Carder’s right to bodily integrity.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled in the family’s favor, saying: “A fetus cannot have rights . . . superior to those of a person who has already been born.”

On behalf of the Stoners, the ACLU brought a civil suit and a medical malpractice case against the hospital, charging that it had not taken sufficient measures to determine Carder’s wishes and did not consult the family before requesting the court order.

The hospital has agreed to establish policies aimed at precluding court intervention in such cases.