in medi-cal ethics?'
The spectators watched in silent amazement.
Czernek jumped to his feet. 'While we stipulate that she is qualified, we object to her testimony as utterly biased!'
Johnson turned toward the judge. 'Your Honor, Dr. Fletcher's testimony as an expert in medical ethics is crucial to deter-mining her intent.'
'On that point you may question,' Lyang said in a caution-ing tone. 'Proceed.'
'Thank you, Your Honor.' Johnson focused his attention on Fletcher, who sat in the witness box as straight and unwaver-ing as a statue. 'Dr. Fletcher, this court has heard a lot about transoption but very little about how it actually works. Could you explain to the jury just what this medical procedure is?' Fletcher turned to the jurors. Her voice was even, her deliv-ery flat and pedagogical. 'The first half of a transoption is simi-lar to a suction abortion. The abortion would be accomplished by dilating the cervix of the pregnant woman, inserting a tube into the uterus, and suctioning the fetus out. The big difference in transoption is that I used a fiberoptic scope to locate the fetus and a tube large enough to capture the entire fetus without damage to the chorionic membrane.'
'What happens to the fetus in a normal suction abortion?' Johnson asked.
'Generally, the chorionic membrane is ruptured; delicate parts such as arms and legs sometimes tear away. In the rare cases where the fetus is suctioned out intact, it doesn't survive long in the holding tank.'
'What happens in the holding tank of your transoption ma-chine?'
'The low power suction delivers the fetus to a holding tank consisting of Ham's F-10 and buminate in a solution of....'
Valerie listened to Fletcher's description of the operation. Vivid memories of that evening churned within her. She re-membered the eerie glow from the machine, the cryptic dia-logue between Fletcher and her nurse, the spot on the ceiling that held her attention.
Most of all, though, she remembered the searing pain. The cramps for days afterward. The bright red blood on the tube, the gloves, the sheets. Blood everywhere, her baby gone. For months she fought to suppress the feeling that what she did was wrong. She eventually succeeded. Then to discover that her baby still lived-that brought a pain greater than any physi-cal agony imaginable. She reached out to touch Ron's hand. She almost recoiled at the feverish heat. It held down a pad while his other hand wrote out extensive notes. She wondered if he was remem- bering that night or if his mind was racing over possible tac-tics and scenarios.
'And why,' she heard Johnson ask, 'did you choose that moment in time and these two women to attempt such an op-eration?'
Fletcher sighed. 'I'd been arguing for the opportunity for years. To me, the ethical separation between donor and re-cipient was clear. The donor was not having the pregnancy terminated simply to provide the fetus; she wanted an abor-tion. It was certainly not my intention to deprive Ms. Dalton of her child. She made that choice. And the precedent of using aborted fetuses in experiments was already established.' Her speech quickened as the anger and frustration of years sur-faced. She looked around the room, her gaze slowly fixing on Dr. Brunner. 'Sure, researchers could find ways to use the parts of a fetus-pancreas, liver, brain tissue, and probably a lot more I haven't read about-but to try to save the fetus, try to give it another chance at survival, I-' She stopped to look at Johnson. 'What did you ask?' Her eyes glistened, wet.
'Why did you pick Ms. Dalton and Mrs. Chandler for-'
Fletcher nodded. 'Because there was Karen, unable to con-ceive in any normal way, blowing thousands of dollars with each try and her body going crazy with hormones to match cycles, and in walked Valerie, who wanted to destroy a per-fectly healthy baby and-'
She paused, realizing that an anger had arisen. She took a calming breath, then looked at the jurors. The men stared at her with poorly disguised curiosity. The women watched her with an understanding that may or may not have been sympa-thetic.
Johnson stepped over to her. 'Let me ask you this,' he said gently. 'Why didn't you announce this attempt to the hospital administration?'
'Because by then I had realized that every step forward in human rights is always opposed by those who gain privileges from the status quo.'
Czernek shot to his feet. 'Objection! This case is not a civil rights battle, it is a custody dispute and such pronouncements from Dr. Fletcher are irrelevant to the issues raised here.' Johnson approached the bench. 'Your Honor, this is clearly a case of rights. Both Ms. Dalton and Mrs. Chandler are claim-ing a right to be Renata's mother. Dr. Fletcher is defending her right to perform transoptions. I suggest that human rights are quite germane to the question of custody rights.' Judge Lyang mulled over the problem. 'Overruled,' she said quietly, leaning back in her chair to listen.
Johnson smiled at her, then turned to Fletcher. 'Please elabo-rate on your remark.'
