Florida woman speaks out after her C-section was disputed in court hearing

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]She was in her 12th hour of labor in the hospital when Sherrise Doyley suddenly found herself in front of a Florida judge from her hospital bed.

[00:00:09]>> real judge. A nurse wheeling in a tablet with a judge, doctors, lawyers, and others on Zoom.

[00:00:16]>> That was exactly when I found out that we were going to court. I was so afraid.

[00:00:20]I was confused. I did not know what was going on or what to expect.

[00:00:25]>> It was a Sunday afternoon in 2024. The state of Florida, at the behest of the University of Florida Health Hospital in Jacksonville, was asking for an emergency hearing because Sherrise, who'd had three previous C-sections, was refusing another. They're asking for an emergency C-section be granted by the court. Doctors testifying the risks of delivering a baby by labor alone after her three C-sections could be deadly, including a higher chance of uterine rupture. They recommended a C-section this time before it became an emergency, saying the baby's heart already showed some signs of distress. But Sherrise, already a mom of three, arguing she would accept the risk of uterine rupture as opposed to risks like infection from a cesarean, and didn't want to undergo another one unless it was an emergency.

[00:01:12]It was a a very hard recovery for me every single time.

[00:01:17]Um and it was something that I just didn't want to go through again. An experienced doula, a birth support person, she said she understood the risks and wanted to continue to labor.

[00:01:27]But the state arguing the life of the baby should be paramount. The state's compelling interest is the preservation of the life of the unborn child that may be harmed based on the mother's refusal to to uh have this C-section.

[00:01:39]>> In between contractions, Sherrise saying it violated her rights to make medical decisions for her own body, and repeatedly asking about a lawyer or a patient advocate over the 3-hour hearing. I have not had a chance to be able to consult with my own legal representation, and I'm trying to understand how you are taking my rights away as a patient.

[00:02:01]>> saying there was not a constitutional right to counsel due to the nature of the hearing, leaving Sherrise to make the case on her own. She even asked another doula to help advocate for her at one point.

[00:02:12]>> We don't often see courts intervene in the case of medical care for individuals. We are seeing this happen more because as fetal rights are expanded, there can be a contradiction between the hospital trying to protect itself from liability, the mother and what she chooses as her birth plan, and what they see as the proper and best choice for the fetus. The story coming to light through a ProPublica investigation, which found that Doyley was not alone. In fact, at least one other case, also with a woman of color, had happened a year earlier at another Florida hospital. In other medical situations, people have the ability to determine their own care, even if it's risky. Um and so what makes it different here is that these women are pregnant.

[00:02:55]Ultimately, the judge ruling that Sherrise could continue to labor, but the hospital could proceed with a C-section only if the situation became an emergency. I am granting the petition um for finding that the state's compelling state interest is met, not requiring anything except for an an emergency basis, which you've already consented to. At 2:00 a.m., with the baby's heart rate dropping for at least 7 minutes, a sign that the baby's life was in danger, Sherrise was given a C-section. Today, daughter Orewa, healthy and now 1, is at home with her siblings, but her mother can't forget how her birth unfolded.

[00:03:33]>> This was the most dehumanizing, scary experience, traumatic experience I've ever been in in my life. Deborah Roberts, ABC News, New York.