title: Post-mortem pregnancy: a proposed methodology for the resolution of conflicts over whether a brain dead pregnant woman should be maintained on life-sustaining treatment.
abstract: In this article, the author examines conflicts over whether to maintain a brain dead pregnant woman on life-sustaining treatment. The author cautions that on the rare occasions when courts are confronted with such a conflict, they should employ a consistent methodology for resolution of the conflict and attempt to honor the wishes of the post-mortem mother and her family. The author draws on relevant areas of law to demonstrate the existence of a legal fiction that protects the interests of post-mortem pregnant women in refusing medical treatment. This article then proceeds to propose a methodology that enables courts to account for a post-mortem pregnant woman's interests, her family's interests, and the state's interests in resolving conflicts over whether to remove a post-mortem pregnant woman from life-sustaining treatment.
authors: University of Virginia School of Law, USA.
authors: Alexis
authors: A
authors: Gregorian
mesh_terms: D001926:Brain Death / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D008021:Life Support Systems / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009035:Mothers; D011247:Pregnancy; D016312:Treatment Refusal; D014481:United States