Abortion

Worst Persons in the World

The police state of Florida for this. The story is a year old, but dovetails with the current battle in the Republican war against women. Last year, a Florida doctor forced a pregnant woman to be confined to a hospital, fearing she would miscarry her pregnancy, and a Florida court sided with the doctor.

Last March, Florida resident Samantha Burton was in week 25 of her pregnancy when she paid a visit to her doctor. Burton was showing signs of potential miscarriage, so her physician ordered bed rest. Burton explained that, as a working mother of two toddlers, bed rest simply wasn't a viable option and then proceeded to ask for a second medical opinion. Seems reasonable, right?

Her doctor, however, was having none of that. Rather than refer Burton for the desired second opinion, he instead felt it necessary to contact state authorities, who then proceeded to force Burton to be admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital against her will and undergo any procedure the doctor felt like prescribing. When Burton had the audacity to request a change in the hospital in which she was being treated, the court denied her request. Three days into her forced hospitalization, Burton miscarried.

Is there any valid excuse for this? And this year, the Republicans are attempting to codify this behavior -- especially in Georgia.