09/02/2026
⚠️According to ACOG: Ethical Issues and Considerations
Decision-Making Capacity
Individuals demonstrate decision-making capacity when they are able to understand their clinical condition as well as the benefits, risks, and alternatives to their treatment options; to appreciate the potential consequences of their decision on their own health and welfare; to reason logically through the options and possible outcomes; and to communicate a choice clearly and consistently (18). 🛑Adult patients are presumed to have decision-making capacity unless formally determined otherwise, and physicians generally can determine a patient’s capacity to make informed decisions through typical patient-physician interactions.
🛑An adult patient with decision-making capacity has the right to refuse treatment, including during pregnancy, labor, and delivery and when treatment is necessary for the patient’s health or survival, that of the patient’s fetus, or both (4).**
🛑IF there is doubt about a patient’s decision-making capacity, consultation with ethics, legal, and psychiatric experts is recommended. Such efforts should always be made in the interest of respecting patient autonomy and never with the goal of coercing a patient to accept medically recommended treatment that the patient has declined (4).”
Source: https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2021/02/informed-consent-and-shared-decision-making-in-obstetrics-and-gynecology
Ethically, if she was coherent enough to speak to a judge for 3 HOURS then she was coherent enough to make the decision for herself and a baby. If it were a true emergency, they wouldn’t have had time to discuss the issue for three hours. As a labor dealer, I could not even imagine how this mom felt.
