Historic Abortion Case; Acuna V. Turkish( SHREWSBURY N.J. Sept. 12 -- The ...),Health

SHREWSBURY, N.J., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement issued by Harold Cassidy, on behalf of Rosa Acuna:

FROM: HAROLD CASSIDY, ON BEHALF OF ROSA ACUNA

RE: TODAY'S DECISION OF THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT IN ACUNA V. TURKISH

Today's opinion is a stunning and surprising, although temporary, defeat for Mrs. Acuna and the women of New Jersey. The opinion represents a significant departure, in our judgment, from existing principles of the New Jersey law of informed consent.

I have spoken with Mrs. Acuna today on a number of occasions. The disappointing decision has deepened her resolve and she has instructed me to file a petition in the United States Supreme Court. It is our judgment that the New Jersey law, as now construed by the New Jersey Supreme Court presents a clear equal protection violation of Mrs. Acuna's rights, and a misunderstanding and misapplication of the opinions of the United States Supreme Court's decisions as cited in today's opinion

The Plaintiff contended throughout the history of this case that the well recognized duty of the physician to disclose the facts about the nature of the procedure which a reasonable patient would want to know required presentation of the evidence of those facts to a jury. Plaintiff contended, with the support of compelling factual evidence, that a reasonable patient would want to know what was being evacuated during the abortion procedure. Two of the most important U.S. Supreme Court cases have expressly acknowledged that such information is material to a woman's decision.

It is also well settled that an obstetrician has a duty to a child in utero. Encompassed in that duty is the obligation that the physician disclose to the child in utero the impact a procedure will have on the child. That duty is discharged by disclosing to a pregnant mother the precise impact a procedure would have upon her unborn child. The mother makes the decision for bot
'/>"/>