In re A.C., 573 A.2d 1235 (1990), was a 1987 District of Columbia Court of Appeals case. It was the first appellate court case decided against forced Caesarean sections, although the decision was issued after the fatal procedure was performed. Physicians performed a Caesarean section upon patient Angela Carder (née Stoner) without informed consent in an unsuccessful attempt to save the life of her baby. The case stands as a landmark in United States case law establishing the rights of informed consent and bodily integrity for pregnant women. Background At age thirteen, Angela Stoner was diagnosed with a rare and usually fatal form of cancer, Ewing's sarcoma. After years of chemotherapy and radiation therapy she was declared to be in remission. At twenty-seven, she married and became pregnant. Carder was referred to George Washington University Hospital's high-risk pregnancy clinic during her fifteenth week due to her medical history. During a routine hospital visit on June 9, 1987, Carder received an X ray due to complaints of back pain and shortness of breath. Her cancer was shown to have returned in the form of an inoperable tumor, causing her to be admitted to hospital two days later. When Carder was twenty-six weeks pregnant, her cancer was discovered to have recurred and metastasized to her lung. The doctors at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. inserted an oral feeding tube into her and administered sedatives in an effort to delay her death and increase her fetus' chance of continued development. On June 12, Carder initially expressed a desire to deliver the baby. Her condition worsened and physicians notified Carder of her terminal illness on June 15, leading Carder to consent to palliative care. The intent of such treatment was to prolong her life, raising the survival rate of the fetus. Carder was again inquired as to whether she wished to deliver the baby, to which she provided an ambiguous answer. Initial Hearing and Procedure On June 16, administrators of the hospital convened a court hearing at the facility to request an emergency Caesarean section. Carder's husband, parents, and personal obstetricians opposed the C-section on the ground that neither Carder nor the fetus would survive. Evidence to the court hypothesized that the fetus currently had a fifty to sixty percent chance of survival, which would decrease if the procedure was delayed. The court was informed that the fetus was viable, or could