Iowa court: Parents of disabled boy can sue for wrongful birth

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The parents of a severely disabled child can sue doctors who failed to inform them about fetal abnormalities that, if revealed, would have prompted the mother to have an abortion, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The 6-1 ruling marks the first time that a personal injury claim for “wrongful birth” has been recognized in Iowa. The majority said the decision brings Iowa in line with a majority of states that have allowed such lawsuits through court decisions or laws. But justices also noted that 12 have laws banning them, and said Iowa’s Republican-controlled Legislature “is free to enact” such a statute if it disagrees with the decision.

The case involves a southeastern Iowa boy born in 2010 with cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and several other impairments that require frequent doctors’ visits in Keokuk and Iowa City and make it unlikely he’ll ever walk or speak.

The boy’s parents allege the mother was assured after an ultrasound during her 22nd week of pregnancy by her doctor that “everything was fine” with the fetus. They claim that, in reality, a radiologist had found that the fetus displayed “head abnormalities” and recommended follow-up; another radiologist didn’t report those findings and instead claimed the head was only slightly smaller than normal.

The parents say they were never informed of the problems, which would have led the mother to terminate the pregnancy. They filed a lawsuit in 2013 against the Fort Madison Community Hospital, a radiology clinic and other medical providers.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit, but Friday’s decision orders a trial into whether the medical providers were negligent.