Rowland case is called 'political'

The president of the National Organization for Women believes prosecutors may be targeting Melissa Ann Rowland, who is charged with murder in the death of her stillborn son, to advance a political viewpoint.

Kim Gandy, NOW president and a former prosecutor, said Rowland may be the ideal defendant because she's not a clean-cut "soccer mom."

"I see a political agenda being carried out through the courts, and it's easier to carry out your political agenda if the object is an unsympathetic person," said Gandy. "But once you've established in the law the right to second-guess a person's decision about their medical care, then it's been established.

"The point is, if you allow a bad principle to be established . . . it makes bad law and it endangers women's lives," Gandy said.

Rowland has been charged with first-degree murder involving a twin boy who was delivered stillborn on Jan. 13 after Rowland allegedly refused repeatedly to get immediate medical help despite recommendations from various health-care professionals between Dec. 25, 2003, and Jan. 13, the day the twins were born. A twin girl survived.

It is apparently not the first time Rowland has faced child abuse charges. Almost four years ago, she pleaded guilty to simple assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child in Allegheny County, Penn., according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which planned to publish a story today.

The newspaper reported in July 2000 that Rowland punched her 2-year-old daughter at a supermarket and yelled at her because she had eaten a candy bar. Before she could leave, more than 20 customers, store cashiers and an off-duty officer formed a human chain around Rowland's car until police arrived. Rowland lost custody of the child.

Reacting to the Utah charges, Gandy questioned how this all would have played out if Rowland were a "soccer mom" who didn't want a Caesarean section, was urged by her doctor to have one anyway and ultimately the patient agreed to do so. "Then the doctor says, 'You should have done this three days ago.' Would she (the patient) have been prosecuted? I think not."

At least one doctor, possibly more, strongly urged Rowland to have a C-section right away or risk severe damage or even death for the twins, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also say Rowland tested positive for cocaine the day she delivered. The twin who survived tested positive for cocaine and alcohol. Rowland has been charged with second-degree felony child endangerment in that matter.