Next Thursday

There’s never been any indication that Samantha Burton - or anyone else for that matter - didn’t want the life of her fetus “saved”. She just didn’t believe that forced bedrest was the best way to do it. When a hospital can treat a pregnant women like a prisoner, utterly disregarding her rights and dignity, on the basis of “protecting” her fetus… what does that say about our society?

We have got to give women the right and responsibility to control their own bodies. Incidents like what happened at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital threaten not only the most basic patient rights, but also a woman’s reproductive rights. We can’t let that happen. Maybe the pro-choice movement needs to step up our efforts in protecting body autonomy rights, even when they don’t explicity involve abortion. Spreading the word about what Samantha Burton went through is one small step towards that goal.