No matter how you look at Elisa Bauer's case, there's no denying there's no easy answer to her dilemma. Elisa is a disabled 32-year-old woman who has the mental capacity of a 6-year-old, suffers from epileptic seizures and is 12 weeks pregnant. Her parents–who are her legal guardians and, as such, are in charge of all health care decisions pertaining their daughter–want to make sure a Reno judge doesn't require her to get an abortion. According to Amy and William Bauer, who adopted Elisa from Costa Rica when she was a child, not only does their daughter not want to have an abortion, but such a practice is also against their Catholic religious beliefs.
But the concern–and the reason Elisa's fate is in the hands of a judge–is the risks this pregnancy can bring to Elisa's already compromised health considering her history of life-threatening seizures.
As I said, this is a tough one no matter how you look at it. I don't think anybody should be required to have an abortion, even if they're disabled. But I also don't think Elisa's parents are looking out for the best interest of their daughter. I understand they claim Elisa wants to keep the baby and give it up for adoption once it's born, but can a disabled woman with the mental capacity of a 6-year-old child know what that really means?
Read more in ¿Qué más?: Would you abort if your baby had a genetic disease?
The other disturbing factor is the way in which Elisa got pregnant. Apparently, she wandered away from the group home where she lives and prostituted herself at a truck stop in more than one occasion, according to her lawyers. It's believed she became pregnant during one of those encounters, although it's not know who's the father.
If her parents are her guardians and responsible for her health, how is it possible that these encounters even took place? Why was she allowed to be in a group home where she could just wander off? What if something tragic had happened to her?
In the end, the saddest part of this story is that because of Elisa's disability, it'll be hard for either side to do what's best for her… it's likely she doesn't even know what that is herself.
Image via Chaval Brasil/flickr
