Cases of court-ordered obstetrical interventions are not common but have
caused great controversy in the United States, Canada and Britain. At stake
for the pregnant woman is her right to have autonomy over her body and
control over the medical treatment that she receives. However, with growing
medical knowledge of the fetal condition, there is a case to suggest that the
fetus should have some rights in cases where the decision of the pregnant
woman to refuse treatment would cause severe harm to the fetus. The
article argues that though the case against intervention is extremely strong,
court-ordered obstetrical interventions should still be possible in extreme
cases