I have no more information yet than is in this Post-Gazette article, but it looks as if the seven-year ordeal is finally over. If it's not the vindication and ringing endorsement of birthing rights I was hoping for, it's probably the best we could have hoped for from a judge who is also a doctor. I'm not sure how he managed to convict Judy for not having a license, since Pennsylvania doesn't license Certiied Professional Midwives, but I can't imagine Judy will not pay the $100 fine and move on. Other midwives have pled guitly to worse in order to stop the torture and expense.
Perhaps the Amish, who rely on non-nurse midwives like Judy, will—if reluctantly—push harder for better midwifery laws in Pennsylvania.
Judith A. Wilson, 53, of Portersville, was found not guilty by Common Pleas Judge Donald E. Machen of the most serious charges [involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment], but found guilty of practicing midwifery without a certificate. She was fined $100.
Life has not stopped for us, no more than for Judy, in these seven years, but it is very good not to have this sword dangling over our necks anymore.
I hope to learn more—news reports, especially initial ones, being suspect—and will fill in here when I can. Thanks to so many of you for your earnest prayers for us all. (Earlier posts on this subject are The Trial, Part II; The Trial; and Options In Childbirth: A Personal Odyssey.)In case anyone reads the Post-Gazette article and wonders, the statement "Although Judge Machen found Mrs. Daley not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children...." is a misprint. It is "Mrs. Wilson" they mean—Heather never was on trial.
Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been emailing the reporter, and he couldn't figure out what I was talking about (though I emailed him yesterday, he thought I was talking about today's article...) There is another, longer article today. Perhaps the one yesterday was online only?
I suggest 10000 pennies.
Excerpt: (This is a follow-up to previous posts: Options In Childbirth: A Personal Odyssey; The Trial; The Trial, Part II; and The Trial, Part III.) I am not a lawyer, and I have no idea what Judy or her lawyer really think, but that doesn't sto...
Weblog: Lift Up Your Hearts!
Date: April 29, 2009, 11:23 am
