As reported from CNN.com, a hospital in Canon City, Colorado, argues that a fetus is not legally a person until it is born. This hospital is being sued in a wrongful death case. Lori Stodghill was 28 weeks pregnant and arrived at the emergency room of St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, short of breath, vomiting, and went into cardiac arrest right there in the hospital’s lobby. Lori Stodghill tragically died at age 31, with her unborn twins perishing with her. That was on New Year’s Day in 2006. To make things even sadder, Stodghill left behind her two year old daughter, motherless. Husband Jeremy Stodghill sued the hospital and it’s owner, Catholic Health Initiatives for the wrongful deaths of his wife and unborn twins.
Defense attorneys have given a shocking statement saying that under state law an embryo is not a person until it is born alive. Stodghill lost his initial case. The hospital and doctors have counter sued him for legal fees and have attempted to garnish his wages. Stodghill is appealing his case with the Colorado Supreme Court. We find it hypercritical that a Catholic hospital would completely reverse the Catholic Church’s position on abortion and when life begins just to try and defeat a legitimate medical malpractice claim.
Illinois law already provided that physicians must protect the life of a fetus when there is “a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the fetus outside the womb, with or without artificial support.” Thus, in Illinois, a hospital would not be able to defend on this basis.