A Foetus is Not a Child... Catholic Hospital Argues

Life begins at conception, according to the Catholic Church, but in a
wrongful death suit in Colorado, a Catholic health care company has
argued just the opposite.
A fetus is not legally a person until it is born, the hospital's
lawyers have claimed in its defense. And now it may be up to the
state's Supreme Court to decide.
Lori Stodghill was 28 weeks pregnant when she went to the emergency
room of St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City vomiting and short of
breath, according to a court document.
She went into cardiac arrest in the lobby.
"Lori looked up at me, and then her head went down on her chest," said
her husband, Jeremy Stodghill.
She died at age 31. Her unborn twin boys perished with her. That was
New Year's Day 2006.
Stodghill, left behind to raise their then-2-year-old daughter alone,
sued the hospital and its owner, Catholic Health Initiatives, for the
wrongful deaths of all three.
After about two years of litigation, defense attorneys for the
hospital and doctors entered an argument that shocked the widower.
They said that under state law, an embryo is not person until it is
born alive, according to court documents. The Stodghills' twins were
deceased when they were removedfrom their mother's lifeless body.
"I didn't even get to hold them," Jeremy Stodghill said. "Ihave an
autopsy picture. That's all I've got."
The court agreed with the argument, and Stodghill lost the suit. The
court also ruled against Stodghill in the caseof his wife for other
legal reasons.
The hospital and doctors then sued him for over $118,000legal fees and
attempted to garnish his wages, according to a legal document filed on
his behalf.
The defendants offered to forget the fees if Stodghill dropped his
appeal. He refused and filed for bankruptcy to avoid having to pay the
claim, which he says he can't afford as he struggles to raise his
now-9-year-old daughter, Libby.
Stodghill has petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court to hear his case,
and he'd like to hear from the Catholic Church.
Representatives of the Catholic bishops of Colorado declined to
comment on the legal proceedings, but said they will review the
litigation and Catholic Health Initiatives' practices "to ensure
fidelity and faithful witness to the teachings of the Catholic
Church."
Stodghill wears a tattoo on his chest with his unborn sons'footprints,
their names and the words "our sons."
He wants the church and his state to see them the same way.