Woman refuses C-Section, unborn twins die, woman charged

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for allegedly ignoring a doctor's warnings to undergo a Caesarean section to save the life of one of her unborn twins, who was later delivered stillborn.


Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, was charged in Salt Lake County with one first-degree felony count of criminal homicide.

Rowland exhibited "depraved indifference to human life," which eventually "caused the death of Baby Boy Rowland," according to charging documents in the case. One nurse told police that Rowland said a C-section would "ruin her life" and she would rather "lose one of the babies than be cut like that."

A spokesman for the district attorney, Kent Morgan, said Rowland is married and has other children, but he did not know how many. The court documents don't list an address for Rowland, and she isn't listed in telephone books covering the Salt Lake City metro area.

"We are unable to find any reason other than the cosmetic motivations by the mother" for her decision, Morgan said.

The documents allege that Rowland was warned numerous times between last Christmas and Jan. 9 that if she did not get immediate medical treatment, her twins would likely die. On Jan. 13, Rowland delivered the babies, one of whom was stillborn.

The doctor who performed an autopsy found that the baby died two days before delivery and would have survived if Rowland had had a C-section when urged to do so.

According to the documents, Rowland sought medical advice in December because she hadn't felt her babies move. A nurse at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake, Regina Davis, told West Valley police that during a hospital visit, she instructed Rowland to go immediately to either of two hospitals where she could get the care she needed, but Rowland allegedly said she would rather have both of her babies die before she went to either of the suggested hospitals.

On Jan. 2, a doctor at LDS Hospital saw Rowland and recommended she immediately undergo a C-section based on the results of an ultrasound and the babies' slowing heart rates. Rowland left the hospital after signing a document stating that she understood that leaving the hospital might result in death or brain injury to one or both of her babies, the doctor told police.

The same day, a nurse at Salt Lake Regional Hospital saw Rowland, who allegedly told her she had left LDS Hospital because the doctor wanted to cut her "from breast bone to pubic bone," a procedure that would "ruin her life." The nurse also told investigators that Rowland allegedly said she would rather "lose one of her babies than be cut like that."

An LDS Hospital spokesman referred questions to a doctor familiar with the case, Jeff Botkin. A call to him was not immediately returned.

A week later, Rowland allegedly came to Pioneer Valley Hospital to verify whether her babies were alive. A nurse there told police that Rowland ignored her advice to remain in the hospital after she could not detect a heartbeat from one of the twins.

Some legal experts say the case represents a slippery slope that could affect abortion rights.

"It's very troubling to have somebody come in and say we're going to charge this mother for murder because we don't like the choices she made," said Marguerite Driessen, a law professor at Brigham Young University.

In January, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that unborn children at all stages of development are covered under the state's criminal homicide statute. That statute, however, exempts the death of an unborn child caused by an abortion.

The statute has been used to prosecute mothers who kill or seriously harm their babies through drug use, but never because a mother failed to follow her doctor's advice, Driessen said.

The Rowland case is a "can of worms" that could open the door to prosecution of mothers who smoke, or don't follow their obstetrician's diet, she said.

"This is going to be a messy soup," said Driessen, who considers herself anti-abortion. "We, the state of Utah, are going to come under fire for abortion-rights advocates because they'll see the same slippery slope that I do."

If convicted, Rowland could be sentenced to between five years and life in prison.

Rowland, held Thursday on $250,000 bail at the Salt Lake County jail, will appear in court Friday or Monday, Morgan said.

On Thursday, Rowland did not yet have an attorney but would have one appointed for her by Friday, he said.