"Where we feel we can make a knee-jerk reaction is mothers and the children they're carrying. We as a society believe we can make decisions for them and that's where the inconsistency comes in," Galloway said.

The case also reflects on the recent legal brouhaha surrounding Parker Jensen, the Sandy youth who was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. His parents, Barbara and Daren Jensen, doubted the diagnosis, expressed beliefs that chemotherapy would harm Parker more than help him, and battled state officials vigorously over forced chemotherapy for Parker and later, for custody of the boy.

Driessen predicts this could raise numerous legal and ethical questions.

"Every medical procedure comes with risks," she said. "A C-section is an invasive procedure. It seems a woman should have the right to decide whether to have that procedure and to weigh the risks and benefits to herself and her family, and not end up prosecuted for murder if the state doesn't happen to agree with the way she balanced out the equities."

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E-mail: lindat@desnews.com; Contributing: Mary Richards, KSL Newsradio 1160.