by Nomad
Back in 2008, a 37-year-old
woman, (identified only by the initials S.I,) told her doctor that she and her husband did want
any more children. At that time she was carrying her second child. The physician
advised her that, following the birth, he would conduct a tubal ligation
operation. Following the operation, that seemed to be the end of the story.
However, a year later, much to the woman's dismay, she learned that, she was once again pregnant despite the sterilization.
However, a year later, much to the woman's dismay, she learned that, she was once again pregnant despite the sterilization.
The doctor then reportedly offered to perform an abortion. The woman declined. Instead, the woman and her husband filed a lawsuit against the doctor and the private hospital.
The couple’s attorney, Gülnaz Güneş Aykaş, demanded compensation for the baby’s education and nurturing expenses, as the family did not have enough of a family budget to raise a third child.
The lawyer defense argued that he doctor had offered the pregnant woman an abortion but that she had refused. Therefore the doctor, the lawyer implied, was no longer responsible. The court was not impressed.
The attorney also argued that such a procedure always carried a very tiny chance of failure, a one in 1,000 probability that a patient could be become pregnant afterwards. That was a hard sell, as it turned out. The woman learned (while in labor with her third child) that the surgeon had not performed the sterilization procedure at all.
In addition to the fine, the Istanbul court ordered the gynecologist and his hospital to pay a total of 125,000 liras (around $52,000) in compensation to the family. That compensation was based to cover all expenses for a child, until the child reaches adulthood, that is, up to its 22nd birthday.
Last month, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressed his now-familiar opposition to all forms of birth control. He called upon women to have "at least three children, but preferably four or five." Any fewer, he said, amounted to treason against the Turkish bloodline.
