VBAC vs. Threat of Court Ordered Cesarean

An Arizona mom must leave her family and travel 350 miles to avoid unnecessary and unwanted surgery because her local hospital has banned vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), allegedly due to lack of staffing. The hospital threatened to obtain a court order if she came to the hospital in labor without first consenting to preemptive surgery; "Fetal Personhood" measures would provide hospitals with the legal authority to carry out such threats. Read the story from CNN.

NAPW's recent law student writing contest was launched to address the legal issues surrounding VBAC bans. The contest asked students to develop statutory, constitutional, and human rights challenges to the trend of refusing to allow women with a prior cesarean to deliver in a hospital unless they undergo repeat surgery.