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Court May Force Mentally Disabled Nevada Woman to Have Abortion
LifeNews.com ^ | 10/31/12 | Becky Bowers-Greene

Posted on 11/01/2012 12:03:46 AM PDT by GonzoII

Court May Force Mentally Disabled Nevada Woman to Have Abortion

by Becky Bowers-Greene | LifeNews.com | 10/31/12 5:02 PM

With obvious public outcries against forced abortions in China and forced sterilizations of mentally handicapped individuals in Nazi Germany, one might assume the United States knows better.

However, today, in Nevada, the life of an 11-week-old unborn baby and the future of his or her 32-year-old mother hang in the balance as a judge considers whether or not to order the woman to undergo an abortion and sterilization against her will.

Elisa Bauer, who suffers from severe mental and physical disabilities attributed to fetal alcohol syndrome, is currently in the final weeks of her first trimester. The second-oldest of six children adopted by William and Amy Bauer in 1992, Elisa has epilepsy and is said to have the mental and social capacity of a 6-year-old.

The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy are unknown. Her family suspects she may have been raped, but it’s possible the sexual encounter that led to her pregnancy was consensual. On several occasions, Elisa has left her group home for hours or days at a time to engage in sexual activity with men at a local truck stop.

Legal guardianship

Since turning 18 in 1998, she has continued to remain under court-approved guardianship of her parents, who were given legal authority to make final decisions regarding her health and welfare, even as she lived in a group home.

While Elisa has maintained that she wants to carry out her pregnancy, she knows she will be unable to care for the child. The Bauers support her decision, are following all the prenatal protocol for high-risk pregnancies, and have already lined up six qualified couples who are eager to adopt Elisa’s child once he or she is born.

However, when Washoe County Social Services became aware of Elisa’s pregnancy, the department issued an informal report requesting that the Court set a status hearing to address the potential health effects Elisa’s pregnancy could have on her and her unborn child, and possibly override the mutual decision made between Elisa and her parents to have her baby.

Jason Guinsasso, the attorney for the Bauers, says that the court has no jurisdiction to intervene in any health-related decisions regarding Elisa — pregnancy included — because Elisa’s parents are the legal guardians. He adds that Washoe County Social Services Department must submit a formal petition based on substantial grounds to usurp guardianship before the County Court can get involved.

“There are no statutes that give this Court or Washoe County the authority to compel Elisa to have an abortion. Such decisions are left to the sound discretion of the duly appointed guardian(s)… To date, Washoe County has utterly failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Bauer’s decision to support Elisa’s efforts to carry her child to term is unlawful or that they are not acting in a manner consistent with the best interests of Elisa’s health and welfare.”

Medical insight

The Bauers have also consulted a number of doctors in an effort to provide the best care to their daughter and obtain expert opinion that debunks the notion that abortion and sterilization are the appropriate and only measures recommended in Elisa’s case.

Dr. Michael Czerkes, an OB/GYN at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine reviewed all the medical facts and concluded that abortion was neither necessary nor prudent.

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

“Monitoring and screening in pregnancy is the recommended course of treatment in pregnancy for a baby who has been exposed to an anti-epileptic medication, not abortion. The risk of having a congenital abnormality is increased when taking these medications; however the risk is not great enough to recommend the ending of the pregnancy.”

A Facebook support page has been created on behalf of the family to help get the word out about Elisa. Visit www.facebook.com/SaveElisasBaby to learn more.

LifeNews Note: Becky Bowers-Greene is a graduate of the University of Arizona and convert to the Catholic faith. A writer and speaker, Becky has published works in the areas of health and wellness, religion, parenting, and aviation. Her musings on family, life, marriage, and authentic feminism can be found at her blog site www.reclaimingthewomb.com. Becky lives in Chandler, Ariz. with her husband and three children, and is expecting her fourth child this spring.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: abortion; moralabsolutes; prolife
Prayers up and votes in for a prolife America!
1 posted on 11/01/2012 12:03:57 AM PDT by GonzoII
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To: GonzoII

Sounds like something out of China or North Korea


2 posted on 11/01/2012 12:10:27 AM PDT by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: GonzoII

This is a very sad tale indeed :-(

What have we come to? Where are we going to wind up if our moral compass continues to spin out of control?

God help us.


3 posted on 11/01/2012 12:18:31 AM PDT by Bobalu (It is not obama we are fighting, it is the media.)
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To: Bobalu

I watched “Judgement At Nuremberg” a few nights ago. It would seem that what we have come to is 1933 Germany. Perhaps they would prefer to take this poor woman out and shoot her, instead? God help us, indeed.


4 posted on 11/01/2012 12:36:29 AM PDT by beelzepug ("0bama is a feckless crapweasel")
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To: GonzoII

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:13-16).

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3-4).

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? (Proverbs 24:11-12).

Heavenly Father,
Please forgive the wickedness of our country. Bring us in line to Your Word, Your Will. Cause a stirring of hearts and minds to vote for the Sanctity of Life and God-fearing leaders who will stand for truth and justice.
In Jesus Name, Amen.


5 posted on 11/01/2012 12:50:33 AM PDT by Maudeen (Proverbs 3:5-6)
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To: GonzoII

They could always starve and dehydrate her to death. Precedent has been set.


6 posted on 11/01/2012 1:03:21 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist ("Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one," Jeremiah 50:31)
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To: GonzoII

****On several occasions, Elisa has left her group home for hours or days at a time to engage in sexual activity with men at a local truck stop.***

Who knew this and when? If true, this is just one more example of how we are a demoralized and immoral people. God forgive us.


7 posted on 11/01/2012 1:32:40 AM PDT by sodpoodle (Life is prickly - carry tweezers.)
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To: Maudeen

Amen


8 posted on 11/01/2012 1:39:34 AM PDT by skr (May God confound the enemy)
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To: GonzoII

Who are they to decide?


9 posted on 11/01/2012 1:42:09 AM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: GonzoII

Buck v. Bell 2


10 posted on 11/01/2012 1:56:24 AM PDT by oblomov
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To: GeronL
Sounds like something out of China or North Korea

America, 1927. Margret Singer ascendant. "Three generations of imbeciles are enough"

11 posted on 11/01/2012 2:00:50 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Obama: Brought to you by the letter "O" and the number 16 trillion.)
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To: Maudeen

Amen.


12 posted on 11/01/2012 2:02:03 AM PDT by GonzoII (Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea...Quare tristis es anima mea?)
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To: wagglebee; little jeremiah

Now the government is stepping in determining whether or not a woman should have an abortion against the wishes of her family and herself? Frightening.


13 posted on 11/01/2012 2:41:29 AM PDT by Pinkbell
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To: sodpoodle

I concur. Why was she permitted to leave her group home if they knew she was doing that? Based on the article, it doesn’t sound like she has the mental ability to be entering into sexual relationships, and it seems she is having them with multiple men. What is the matter with these men as well? It’s shameful taking advantage of a mentally disabled young woman like that.


14 posted on 11/01/2012 3:31:19 AM PDT by Pinkbell
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To: GeronL
It's unsurprising, to me.

The American Abortion Regime really has little standing to point fingers at Communist China, Communist Russia, or National Socialist Germany.

After killing 55,000,000 'unpersons' ... with no sign of stopping, with one major political party avidly supporting the slaughter and the other offering only the most tepid and insipid resistance ... the guards in the gulags and death camps would rightly point their fingers and laugh at America.

America must simply repent, and change her ways ... or America will be destroyed.

15 posted on 11/01/2012 3:41:20 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: GonzoII

Some years ago we met a young family with two daughters, one was normal, while the other was severely mentally retarded like that. She had the mind of a small child, but was a maturing young woman.

The problem was, she was gorgeous and with a perfect developing figure. You couldn’t tell by merely looking at her.

Her mother said that she wished she at least looked retarded or something so that people would know.

I saw a sad future for her when her parents are gone.


16 posted on 11/01/2012 4:54:17 AM PDT by Bon mots (Abu Ghraib: 47 Times on the front page of the NY Times | Benghazi: 2 Times)
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To: GonzoII
"...when Washoe County Social Services became aware of Elisa’s pregnancy, the department issued an informal report requesting that the Court set a status hearing to address the potential health effects Elisa’s pregnancy could have on her and her unborn child, and possibly override the mutual decision made between Elisa and her parents to have her baby."

A department is made up of individuals and individuals wrote and filed this report. Individuals want to have this baby killed. Name them. Don't let them hide behind the anonymity provided by layers of bureaucracy. Name the judge that would even hear this petition rather than immediately dismiss it with prejudice.

Maybe Kevin Schiller the director of "social services" for Washoe country could be asked what his departments compelling interest is in this case. Maybe Terri Humes the Fiscal Director for social services could be asked if their budget is expansive enough to cover a court case not clearly in their mandate.
Their mailing address is:
Washoe County Department of Social Services
P.O. Box 11130
Reno, NV 89520-0027

Their general information number is:
775.785.8600
Their general information email is:
socialsvs@washoecounty.us

17 posted on 11/01/2012 6:16:45 AM PDT by Durus (You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Ayn Rand)
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To: Bon mots
The problem was, she was gorgeous and with a perfect developing figure. You couldn’t tell by merely looking at her. Her mother said that she wished she at least looked retarded or something so that people would know. I saw a sad future for her when her parents are gone.

In the past, her parents would have found somebody willing to have her as a wife, and support her.

18 posted on 11/01/2012 6:29:01 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (political correctness is communist thought control, disguised as good manners)
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To: All

..........Update


19 posted on 11/03/2012 8:03:18 AM PDT by GonzoII (Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea...Quare tristis es anima mea?)
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To: Pinkbell
What is the matter with these men as well? It’s shameful taking advantage of a mentally disabled young woman like that.

Isn't Judge Walker also taking advantage of a mentally disabled woman as well - using her as a "test case" to further his own radical liberal Nazi-style agenda which calls for the elimination of "useless eaters" vis a vis abortion and sterilization?

What are these swine going to do if his honor orders an abortion and sterilization.....put the poor woman in a straight jacket and drag her kicking and screaming to the abortuary - just like they do in China????

No "choice" here. We are talking about FORCE!!!

Where is the outrage?

20 posted on 11/08/2012 9:56:29 AM PST by Sons of Union Vets (No taxation without representation!)
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