Mother accused of murder for refusing a caesarean

I read the story (link) and can only feel pity for her. She looks awful, must have had the most dreadful life, and will now be going through hell. Even the news outlets appear to be down on her - in finding the picture code for this entry, I'm shown that the name which Foxnews gave to her image is "csectionwoman.jpg". She no longer has a name, but is simply identified by her misdeads. Harold Shipman would be 'killergp.jpg" Timothy Mcveigh would become "Oklahomabomb.jpg".

FOXNews: "Melissa Ann Rowland (search), 28, appeared in court via video teleconference from jail. Her attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf to one count of criminal homicide (search).

Prosecutors say Rowland ignored multiple recommendations that she get a C-section to save the lives of her twins. One of the babies, a boy, was stillborn. The other, a girl, survived and already has been adopted."

Houston Chronicle: SALT LAKE CITY -- The woman charged with killing one of her twins by refusing a Caesarean section was convicted of child endangerment in Pittsburgh nearly four years ago, a newspaper reported Saturday. The 2000 conviction of Melissa Rowland stemmed from a supermarket incident in which she punched her daughter several times in the face after the toddler picked up a candy bar and began eating it, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Witnesses said Rowland screamed, "You ate the candy bar and now I can't buy my cigarettes." An Allegheny County, Pa., court sentenced Rowland to five years probation for simple assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Her daughter was turned over to a child-welfare agency.

Obviously, what she did was wrong. It would be a gut-wrenching action for anyone hoping to get pregnant, who is pregnant or with young children, yet we don't know the whole story. Was she merely an extremely bad parent or were there contributing factors pushing her along the way to becoming violent and a danger to children. The behaviour reported in the Chronicle is not that of someone on the straight and narrow. I would hope that whether she is convicted of murder or not, those around her have compassion and believe in her ability to change with time.
Though I'm not religious, this is the type of situation where I would say, pray.