A jury awarded a Florida mom $4.5 million after she sued her doctor saying she would have terminated her pregnancy if she’d known her son would be born with no arms and only one leg.
On Friday, jurors found Ana Mejia’s obstetrician and technicians at two ultrasound facilities responsible for failing to tell Mejia about her son’s disabilities despite undergoing seven ultrasounds during pregnancy.
Accordingly, the jury awarded Mejia and the child’s father, Rodolfo Santana, $4.5 million, half of what they said would be needed to pay for their son’s lifelong care.
During the trial, Mejia said that she loves her son, Bryan Santana, now age 3, and that his life has value, but that she would have had an abortion if she had known about his disabilities prenatally, reports The Palm Beach Post. To read more click here.
This reporter used the phrase ‘horrific disabilities’ not just once, but twice. It made my skin crawl. There really are a large number of people who think that disabled folks are better off dead. It makes me so sad.
Won’t the mom need a lot of money to pay her son’s medical bills and other expensees related to his disability? Perhaps she would have chosen abortion becasue she could not afford to raise a child with such extensive disabilities. Do you believe in having children that you can’t afford?
Please re-read my comment; I was complaining about the reporter’s use of language and the pervasive belief in society and in this article that disabled people would be better off dead. I am completely uninterested in telling anyone what children they should have or should not have.
Sad day when although a mother says her child with a disability has value in this world and yet does not have value in the womb… and she gets awarded money for saying that… Why do Jury’s not listen anymore???
Years from now when the child is capable of understanding, how do you think he will feel about his Mom stating that she would have gotten an abortion had she known about his disabilities. Yet she claims that she loves him. Those two statements are definitely contradictory.
I bet the money’s gone in a year anyway. The vast majority of lawsuits, lottery wins and other windfalls usually end in bankruptsy in a year. I hope it’s paid out in a trust fund but likely not.
This entire article makes MY skin crawl and the fact that she would be awarded a dime is beyond me. Her son’s disability, while unfortunate, is beyond anyone’s control. To sue the doctor would be the same (in my opinion) of the father suing the mother for the son having a disability. This is very sad coming from an advocacy position and is indicative of the “lawsuit happy” society that has developed over the past several decades. As I mentioned in my comments to the original article, I feel particularly sorry for the little boy, who will undoubtedly be affected by the knowledge that his parents benefited from his disabilty and would have aborted him if they knew.