“New trial ordered in Iowa pregnancy firing - Des Moines Register” plus 4 more

New trial ordered in Iowa pregnancy firing - Des Moines Register
Pregnancy threat - Fiji Times
New Trial Ordered in Pregnancy Firing - KCRG.com
DVD aims to reduce smoking, drinking during pregnancy - WTHR
Greens urge federal action on abortion - ninemsn

New trial ordered in Iowa pregnancy firing - Des Moines Register

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 04:05 PM PDT

An Iowa woman who claims she was fired from her job because she had a baby will get a new trial.

The Iowa Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Elizabeth Chacey DeBoom on Friday, saying she was prejudiced by jury instructions at her first trial.

DeBoom gave birth in January 2004. She returned to work at Raining Rose, Inc., part-time on March 11, 2004, and full-time on April 12, 2004. She was fired seven days later after being told she was no longer a good fit for the Cedar Rapids skin-care products company and that her bosses were frustrated she had not completed a major project she had begun before she went on maternity leave, court records show.

She filed a lawsuit against the company and a jury returned a judgment in favor of Raining Rose. DeBoom filed a motion with the district court for a new trial, claiming it made several errors in the jury instructions. The motion was denied.

In her appeal to the state Supreme Court, DeBoom said the chairman of the company's board of directors, Art Christoffersen, asked her upon learning of her pregnancy if she was going to "be like all those other women who find it's this life-altering experience and decide to stay at home."

Court records show that DeBoom assured Christoffersen she was committed to the company.

While she was on leave, DeBoom received a work evaluation in which she received high marks and a 15 percent raise.

DeBoom said in court records that when she was fired, company president Charles Hammond told her she wasn't catching up fast enough after maternity leave and that the company doubted whether she was still committed to the job.

Hammond denied making the statement, records show.

During her trial in Linn County, DeBoom presented evidence that showed that while she was on maternity leave, work on several projects had piled up along with several new assignments.

"DeBoom asserts Raining Rose created a situation in which she was doomed to fail after she returned from maternity leave," the Supreme Court wrote in its decision.

DeBoom also claimed jury instructions were conflicting and raised the burden of proof needed to prove her pregnancy and status as a new mother were the reasons she was fired.

Raining Rose argued that DeBoom was not part of a protected class when she was fired and therefore could not sue for discrimination under the state's civil rights act, which states that "an employer shall not terminate the employment of a person disabled by pregnancy because of the person's pregnancy."

Raining Rose claimed DeBoom could not qualify for protection because she was not pregnant at the time she was fired and that DeBoom did not present substantial evidence to support her claim of discrimination.

The Supreme Court ruled that while Iowa law does not recognize a discrimination claim based on a person's status as a new parent, "we think t here is substantial evidence linking DeBoom's termination to her pregnancy."

The court said federal courts have interpreted that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act applies to women who are not pregnant and to women who have taken maternity leave.

The court also identified three errors in jury instructions, including substituting the words "determining factor" for "motivating factor" in the role DeBoom's pregnancy played in her firing.

That created a conflict between two instructions given to the jury, which the court said likely confused jurors and imposed a higher burden of proof than is required in discrimination cases.

"Not only does (it) misstate DeBoom's burden of proof, but it is likely that using both of these instructions confused the jury as to what DeBoom was required to demonstrate," the court said. "We find DeBoom was prejudiced by the jury instructions."

Beth Townsend, the attorney for DeBoom, said she is "gratified by the decision."

"I think the Iowa Supreme Court made it clear that they're going to ensure that the Iowa Civil Rights Act is enforced," Townsend said.

A telephone message left Friday for Raining Rose attorney Patrick Roby was not immediately returned.

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Pregnancy threat - Fiji Times

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 01:20 PM PDT

/ Front page / News

Saturday, August 29, 2009

ABOUT seven per cent of pregnant women in the country suffer from anaemia.

This was revealed by chief dietician Nisha Khan at a health conference yesterday in Suva. The figure has dropped from 2005, in which nearly 19 per cent of all pregnant women were anaemic, 13.5 per cent in 2006, and eight per cent from 2007.

Ms Khan said measures such as dietary diversification, iron and folic supplementation, fortification and health promotion program were being done.

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New Trial Ordered in Pregnancy Firing - KCRG.com

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 12:30 PM PDT

DES MOINES (AP) - An Iowa woman who claims she was fired from her job because she had a baby will get a new trial.

The Iowa Supreme Court ordered a new trial in the case of Elizabeth DeBoom, who sued her former employer, Raining Rose Inc., when she was fired seven days after returning to work full-time following her maternity leave.

A jury returned a verdict in favor of Raining Rose. DeBoom filed a motion with the district court for a new trial, claiming it made several errors in the jury instructions. The motion was denied.

In its ruling Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that DeBoom was prejudiced by jury instructions because they were conflicting and created a much higher burden of proof for DeBoom proving her pregnancy was the reason she was fired.

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DVD aims to reduce smoking, drinking during pregnancy - WTHR

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 08:41 AM PDT

Indianapolis - A new DVD hopes to reduce the number of Hoosier women who smoke, drink or take drugs while pregnant.

Indiana ranks seventh in the nation for women who smoke during pregnancy. That means nearly 18,000 Hoosier babies every year are born to a mother who smokes, according to a recent report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free KIDS.

The state also has a high incidence of alcohol and other drug use by women who are pregnant. A recent analysis conducted by the Indiana University School of Medicine estimated that 10 percent of pregnant women drink alcohol and 5 percent use illegal drugs. That means nearly 9,000 Hoosier babies are affected by alcohol and 4,500 are affected by drugs each year.

Health advocates want to educate health care providers about how to identify drug, alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy. The Indiana Perinatal Network (IPN) also wants to teach providers how to use a more supportive approach when talking to their patients about it.

IPN is working on a training DVD for health care providers that covers identifying patients who use alcohol or drugs while pregnant, and how to tackle the issue with patients. The DVD features Dr. James Nocon, director of the Prenatal Recovery Clinic at Wishard Memorial Hospital and clinical associate professor at the IU School of Medicine, who offers suggestions on what health-care providers can do if they suspect a patient is using tobacco, abusing drugs or alcohol. He provides practical role-play scenarios with clinical and research-based material and interventions.

"We all know that smoking, using illegal drugs and abusing alcohol are harmful to pregnant women and their unborn babies, but it's a very difficult and sensitive topic for doctors to approach with their patients," Dr. Nocon said. "If we can screen and intervene early in the pregnancy we can reverse many of the harmful effects of tobacco, cocaine and other harmful substances."

The DVD also includes resources for health-care professionals, so they can help their patients get the treatment and help they need.

The DVD was produced in partnership with the IU School of Medicine, Indiana Section of American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Indiana Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Indiana State Department of Health, Indianapolis Healthy Start and Indiana March of Dimes.

For more information on the DVD or to order a copy, contact the Indiana Perinatal Network at 1-866-338-0825.

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Greens urge federal action on abortion - ninemsn

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 10:10 PM PDT

The Australian Greens have urged federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon to intervene in Queensland's abortion debate.

Queensland cabinet amended the state's Criminal Code on Monday to protect doctors prescribing abortion drugs.

The move came after public hospitals, concerned about a coming court case in which a young couple has been charged in relation to a medical abortion, suspended the procedure.

Despite the amendments, hospitals are reportedly refusing to resume terminations and are sending patients interstate to receive them.

Medical abortions are still technically illegal under Queensland criminal law.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called on Ms Roxon to convene an emergency meeting of all state and territory health ministers and attorneys-general to address the issue.

"The commonwealth has a responsibility to help resolve this legal confusion," she said on Saturday.

"Women should have the right to access the health services they need, and to be able to make safe, legal choices."

Cherish Life Queensland president Teresa Martin has accused pro-abortion doctors of launching a "contrived" campaign that manipulated the media and the public to put pressure on the state government to decriminalise abortion.

Ms Martin said the government's commitment to amend the abortion law to protect doctors would solve the current crisis.

"If these doctors were genuine in their concerns, they would accept the assurance by Queensland Health that their indemnity is still in place," she said on Saturday.

"For doctors in the private system, their insurance covers them, except for criminal actions for which they are prosecuted and convicted.

"The fact is that no Queensland doctor has been charged with performing an illegal abortion in the 23 years since the McGuire ruling was handed down."

The 1986 McGuire ruling declared abortion to be legal if necessary to preserve the woman from serious danger to her life or health - beyond the normal dangers of pregnancy and childbirth - that would result if the pregnancy continued.

Ms Martin said the vast majority of the 14,000 abortions performed each year in Queensland were for financial or social reasons.

"Some doctors want the existing law against abortion repealed so that we have abortion on demand effectively until birth, which is now the brutal situation in Victoria," she said.

"The law as it stands should be enforced."