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The New York Times reported that arguments are under way today in the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee, Florida, in the case of Samantha Burton, who was confined against her will to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in March 2009.

Here is the coverage on The Unnecesarean last August when her story broke.

Woman Ordered by State to Submit to Hospital Confinement, Cesarean 

In March 2009, mother of two Samantha Burton, was suffering pregnancy complications in her twenty-fifth week of pregnancy. At the state’s request, the Leon County Circuit Court ordered that Burton, who allegedly did not comply fully with recommendations regarding bed rest and smoking cessation,  be indefinitely confined against her will to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and submit to any and all medical treatments, bed rest, and other interventions, including cesarean section. In the words of the court, Burton must submit to anything that “the unborn child’s attending physician,” deemed necessary to “preserve the life and health of Samantha Burton’s unborn child.”  Continue reading…

ACLU Files Amicus Brief in Support of Woman Hospitalized Against Will

The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida filed the following amicus brief in support of a mother of two who was confined at 25 weeks pregnant to a hospital and forced to undergo a cesarean against her will. Click over to read HTML version of the amicus brief.