Death Agonies

Baby Doe and Bouvia (Contd.)

Two celebrated life-and-death legal struggles intensified on both coasts over the Christmas holidays. In New York, the severely handicapped Baby Jane Doe, now almost three months old, became the subject of a third lawsuit intended to prolong her life. In California, Cerebral Palsy Victim Elizabeth Bouvia was denied the right to starve herself to death in a Riverside hospital and was force-fed despite her bitter resistance.

The latest round of litigation in the Baby Jane Doe case was initiated by A. Lawrence Washburn Jr., 48, an attorney whom Baby Jane's parents have come to see as their tormentor. In mid-October, Washburn, a longtime antiabortion activist, first sued to force doctors to ignore the parents' decision and correct by surgery some of the birth defects that now limit the infant's life expectancy to two years. The state's highest court ruled that, as an outsider, Washburn had no standing to sue and that there was no need to take decisions about the medical treatment of Baby Jane out of the hands of her parents.

His new suit, filed in federal court, demands an injunction that would force her Long Island hospital to go to court to fight any parent's decision to reject life-prolonging surgery for a seriously handicapped newborn. Washburn alleges that Baby Jane is but one of approximately 300 babies who are victims of a nationwide effort by hospitals and doctors to justify "infanticide." Washburn's is the second federal suit brought in the Long Island case. The other was filed by the Federal Government, which sought access to Baby Jane's medical records to determine if she was being discriminated against under a 1973 federal law protecting the handicapped. A U.S. district court judge rejected the Government's request, but his decision is being reviewed by a federal appeals court.

Explaining his tenacious involvement, Washburn says, "This problem of treating a handicapped infant differently from other infants needed the light of day." Baby Jane's parents, who believe that their decision has been subjected to the light of more than enough scrutiny, are now considering seeking a court order "to stop this incessant filing of lawsuits," according to their attorney.

A quadriplegic since birth, 26-year-old Elizabeth Bouvia (pronounced Boo-vay) has lived a relatively full life, including marriage and a college education. In early September, after separating from her husband and deciding that she no longer wanted to be totally dependent on others for her daily care, she entered Riverside General Hospital and asked officials there to keep her comfortable while she starved herself to death. In mid-December, California Superior Court Judge John H. Hews ruled that Bouvia "does have the right to terminate her existence, but not .. . with the assistance of society." Three days later, Bouvia stopped drinking the liquid protein that was keeping her alive. Three days after that, although she struggled with all the strength her frail body could muster, an I.V. tube was inserted in her arm. It was replaced, on Christmas Day, with a nasogastric feeding tube. Since the force-feeding began, a 24-hour nurse and guard have been posted by her bed to prevent her from sabotaging the tubes. Bouvia's lawyers last week lost several bids to get Hews' order immediately overturned.

The main goal of hospital officials is to be rid of Bouvia, but they can hardly wheel her out onto the sidewalk and leave her. Several sympathetic individuals have offered her shelter, but she has declined all such overtures, because she wants medical support while she dies; which is to say that she is determined to stay right where she is. The hospital is equally determined. "We will have her out of the hospital," says Riverside County Deputy Counsel William Katzenstein. "I assure you of that."