Abortion rights groups oppose Gov. Bush's attempt to appoint a guardian for a disabled woman's fetus.
By Associated Press
Published June 2, 2003
ORLANDO - The state goes to court today seeking guardianship for a fetus being carried by a mentally disabled rape victim in a case closely watched by abortion rights supporters and opponents.
Gov. Jeb Bush ordered state lawyers last month to seek the appointment of a guardian for the fetus, now in the third trimester. Bush overruled child welfare officials who said such an appointment would be illegal.
Abortion rights supporters say that Bush, who is anti-abortion, is trying to use the woman's situation to overturn an earlier Florida Supreme Court decision that says fetuses can't have guardians because they aren't people.
The pregnant woman, identified only by the initials J.D.S., has lived in a state-supervised nursing home since she was 3. She suffers from autism, seizure disorder and cerebral palsy, records show.
Bush said Circuit Judge Lawrence R. Kirkwood, who dismissed a guardianship petition last week filed by an Orlando woman, had not reviewed all the legal arguments in support of appointing a guardian for the fetus.
If Kirkwood declares J.D.S. incompetent in today's hearing, it would then allow for the appointment of a guardian for her.
In the state's motion to intervene, lawyers for Attorney General Charlie Crist said the 1989 Supreme Court ruling does not apply in this case since it involved a competent teenager capable of making her own decisions.
The state's motion also says J.D.S's unborn child is in the final trimester and therefore a viable person.
