Inside a Court Hearing That Decided How She’d Give Birth — ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-hearing-c-section
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https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-nuclear-power-nrc-safety-doge-vought
In its rush to boost nuclear energy, the Trump administration is rapidly rewriting rules to ease regulations and provide financial breaks for industry. “The safety culture is under threat,” a former head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
Woman in Labor at Florida Hospital Brought in Zoom Court for Refusing C-Section
https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-hearing-c-section
She Was in Labor at a Florida Hospital. Then She Was in Zoom Court for Refusing a C-Section.
It’s difficult to put yourself in the place of Cherise Doyley, a pregnant mother of three who found herself facing a judge while in labor at the University of Florida Health hospital in downtown Jacksonville. She had arrived at the facility with a plan for her birth. She wanted to try for a vaginal delivery, but she understood from years of experience as a professional birthing doula that things don’t always go as planned. She arrived overnight at the hospital after her water broke. Doctors told her they were concerned about the risk of uterine rupture, a potentially deadly complication for her and her baby. She understood the risk to be less than 2% and repeatedly told doctors she wouldn’t consent to a cesarean without trying to have a vaginal delivery first. The doctors appeared to relent, leaving her to labor for several more hours. Then a nursing supervisor wheeled a tablet up to her bed and informed her she was in court. The reason? Failing to agree to a C-section. ### Read More [https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260228-Maney-Court-Ordered-C-Sections-035.jpg?w=400&h=400&crop=1]They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth. [https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections] When advocates for pregnant women say that you shouldn’t lose your constitutional rights just because you conceived, this is the kind of situation they’re talking about. I’m a reporter based in Alabama, and throughout my career, I’ve focused on women facing the consequences of the state’s fetal personhood policy. That’s the idea that fetuses should have the same legal status as children. My investigation shows how a similar theory played into the cases of two women: Cherise Doyley and Brianna Bennett, who experienced eerily similar situations in Florida. In both cases, they found themselves fighting for their rights to make medical decisions because they were pregnant [https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections]. I obtained a video recording of Doyley’s court hearing. Watching her argue her case from her hospital bed shocked me. Even though courts have found time and time again that you can’t force someone to undergo medical treatment — even if it could save someone else’s life — the video underscored for me how pregnant women are the rare exception. In several states, judges have ruled pregnant patients can be forced to receive blood transfusions or remain on bed rest if it is in the best interest of the fetus. In Doyley’s case, a court would force her to undergo surgery. ProPublica has already investigated how abortion restrictions can lead to pregnant women being denied lifesaving care [https://www.propublica.org/series/life-of-the-mother]. Experts worry that the opposite problem, forced treatment, could also become more common in states like Florida that have fetal personhood policies. Doyley signed a waiver allowing the hospital to discuss her case with ProPublica, but a spokesperson for University of Florida Health in Jacksonville would not comment, citing patient privacy. By sharing and examining Doyley’s case with her consent, we aim to show you what forced medical treatment can look like. And, while we encourage you to read the full investigation [https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections], we wanted to offer you a look inside the Zoom court hearing so you can see for yourself what happened. ### The Hearing Convenes Nurses wheel in a tablet for a virtual hearing, and Cherise Doyley realizes she is facing a court hearing about her birth choices. Obtained by ProPublica You can see the confusion on Doyley’s face as she realizes she’s being taken to court over her medical decisions. She asked for a lawyer, or at least a patient advocate. Florida courts don’t require lawyers for pregnant women in hearings about their medical decisions and the hospital didn’t provide an advocate, so Doyley had to go it alone. Judge Michael Kalil was on the call in his black robe and explained how the hearing would work. Doyley, a Black woman, was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs and monitors and covered by a sheet. She was surrounded on the screen by nearly a dozen doctors and lawyers, most of them white, who offered a lot of testimony about what could happen to Doyley’s baby if she continued to refuse a C-section. ### The Judge Explains the Proceedings Judge Michael Kalil explains that the state attorney’s office, at the request of the hospital, has asked him to grant an order for an emergency C-section. Obtained by ProPublica Dr. Erin Burnett said during the hearing that she did not think Doyley could successfully give birth vaginally. A long labor could increase the risk of uterine rupture, which could kill Doyley and the child, she said. Dr. John Davis, the chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department, said in the hearing the hospital had been recognized for its low C-section rate and did not perform unnecessary surgeries. Doyley’s condition required intervention, he said. “Everybody was very concerned about the baby’s welfare,” Jenny Van Ravestein, director of women’s services at the hospital, said during the hearing. Burnett and Davis did not respond to requests for comment, and the hospital declined ProPublica’s requests to interview them and others involved in Doyley’s care. The research on the risks of uterine rupture after prior C-sections is unclear. Studies have found that 0.15% to 2.3% of these labors resulted in a rupture, depending on a number of factors such as body mass, a history of successful vaginal births and whether the labor began spontaneously or had to be induced. Either number felt pretty low to Doyley. What the testimony doesn’t include, though, is much about the downsides Doyley faced from having another C-section, which could entail a long recovery, infection and other complications, along with the risk of death. But she couldn’t explain her reasoning until the judge decided to unmute her. ### Doyley Testifies When Doyley is unmuted, she testifies that a C-section could put her life in danger. Obtained by ProPublica Doyley had her reasons to want to avoid major abdominal surgery: She had difficult recoveries from her previous C-sections. A hemorrhage after a prior C-section had sent her back to the hospital for almost a week. She worried that she wouldn’t be able to care for her children if she was struggling with recovery from the surgery itself and potentially also with complications. And she was concerned that if she were to die, her children could fall into the foster care system. Doyley said she didn’t see surgery as a low-risk option. She wondered aloud in the hearing if her other children’s lives — and her own — mattered to the hospital and doctors. Kimberly Mutcherson, a law professor at Rutgers University, said that women who want to opt for care that seems risky to doctors often face accusations of not caring about their babies. “You’re somebody who is a bad mother, right?” Mutcherson said. “Which is a huge part of what the thought process is here. This is not what mothers do. Mothers sacrifice, including allowing somebody to cut you open.” Obstetricians care for two interconnected patients — the mother and her fetus. Sometimes their needs conflict. When that happens, the ethical guidelines for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say the doctor should prioritize the well-being of the mother. However, these cases show that doctors sometimes elevate the welfare of the fetus over the mother, said Elizabeth Kukura, a law professor at Drexel University. “It reflects a deep understanding of women as the incubators,” Kukura said. “Women in their role as childbearers.” The hearing dragged on for more than two hours. At one point, Doyley asked for a transfer to another hospital because she did not want anyone involved in the hearing to operate on her if she needed a C-section. Hospital officials said that wasn’t likely to happen since another hospital would have to accept her as a patient first. Doyley agreed to stay at University of Florida Health but asked if the hospital could assign a Black nurse or doctor to her care. She wondered aloud in the hearing what would happen in the morning, after the 6 a.m. deadline imposed by the court had passed. “They’re going to tie me up and go give me a C-section against my will?” ### A Deadline Is Set Doyley says she doesn’t like her care being determined by nurses and doctors, most of whom were white, who have been involved in her court hearing. Obtained by ProPublica The judge did not order an immediate C-section, but he said the hospital could perform one in an emergency without her consent. Doyley later said she did her best to maintain her poise and composure. And at the end, she even thanked the judge and highlighted how absurd the whole thing felt to her. “I appreciate you spending two hours on a Sunday going through my medical history and fighting for my vagina and my baby,” she said. ### The Judge Rules Doyley thanks the judge at the end of the hearing, trying to keep her composure. Obtained by ProPublica Overnight, doctors said the baby’s heart rate dropped for several minutes. They rushed Doyley into surgery, and she, once again, gave birth via C-section. The next morning at 8 a.m., nurses again put Doyley in front of a tablet for a final hearing. Doyley said the baby was born at 2 a.m., and she still hadn’t been taken to the neonatal intensive care unit to see her daughter. “Tell them I don’t want to be on,” she said. “Y’all can have your own meeting. I want to see my child.” Once Kalil heard the baby had been born, he wished Doyley well and closed the case. ### The Case Is Closed Hours after her C-section delivery, Doyley finds herself back in a hearing before she even gets to see her baby. Obtained by ProPublica In response to questions from ProPublica, Kalil wrote in an email that the judicial code of conduct prohibits judges from commenting on cases. “These ethical standards exist to protect the integrity of the judicial process, ensure fairness to all parties, and preserve the Court’s neutrality,” he wrote. For a year, Doyley and her family tried to forget about the case and move on. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of violation. She said if the hospital could force her to undergo surgery, it could happen to anyone. “When we use the courts to basically strong-arm, bully someone into an unnecessary medical procedure against their will, it’s akin to torture, in my eyes,” Doyley said. The post She Was in Labor at a Florida Hospital. Then She Was in Zoom Court for Refusing a C-Section. [https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-hearing-c-section] appeared first on ProPublica [https://www.propublica.org/]. — From ProPublica [https://www.propublica.org/] via this RSS feed [https://www.propublica.org/feeds/propublica/main]
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Federal cyber experts called Microsoft's cloud a "pile of shit," approved it anyway - Ars Technica
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-cloud-fedramp-cybersecurity-government
A federal program created to protect the government against cyber threats authorized a sprawling Microsoft cloud product, despite the company’s inability to fully explain how it protects sensitive data.
Despite Doubts, Federal Cyber Experts Approved Microsoft Cloud Service
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-cloud-fedramp-cybersecurity-government
A federal program created to protect the government against cyber threats authorized a sprawling Microsoft cloud product, despite the company’s inability to fully explain how it protects sensitive data.
The Pentagon dismantled its civilian protection mission as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority and the Trump administration reorganized national security around two principles: more aggression, less accountability.
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