
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 17, 1993                   TAG: 9312170145
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

COURT REJECTS COMPELLING C-SECTION

The state's highest court refused to enter a dispute Thursday over an attempt to force a woman to have a Caesarean section to save her endangered fetus.

The Illinois Supreme Court's order upheld an appellate court ruling and effectively ended an appeal by Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, the fetus' court-appointed guardian.

Murphy said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but questioned whether the high court could act in time.

"I just hope and pray that the physicians' prognosis is wrong," Murphy said.

Authorities went to court to force the unidentified woman to have the C-section to save the fetus from death or severe brain damage.

Doctors say the fetus, which at 37 weeks is 1 1/2 weeks shy of full term, is being deprived of oxygen and will die or suffer severe brain damage unless it is surgically removed from the womb.

The 22-year-old Chicago woman says God will protect her fetus through miracles.

by CNB