Black Women & Forced C-Sections: A Fight for Medical Autonomy

A Florida judge ordered a C-section on Cherise Doyley in April 2024, despite her repeated refusals, after a hospital initiated an emergency virtual court hearing while she was in labor. The case, detailed in a modern ProPublica investigation published March 21, 2026, highlights a disturbing trend of hospitals seeking court intervention to override pregnant women’s medical decisions, particularly Black women.

Doyley, a professional birthing doula, was 12 hours into labor at University of Florida Health in Jacksonville when hospital staff presented her with a tablet displaying a Zoom call. On the screen were a judge, several lawyers, and medical personnel. She was informed she was in court, the report stated, because she had not consented to a C-section. Doyley, who understood the risk of uterine rupture to be less than 2 percent, had made it clear she would only agree to surgery if a genuine emergency arose.

“I have 20 white people against me, and because I am informed and I am making an informed decision, they are trying to take my rights away from me by force,” Doyley told ProPublica. She requested a Black medical provider during the hearing, but the judge reportedly dismissed her concern, stating, “I don’t find that race really has much to do with this.” After the surgery, when Doyley asked the judge for assistance in seeing her newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit, she was told there was nothing he could do.

Doyley’s experience echoes that of Brianna Bennett, who underwent a court-ordered C-section at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in 2023. Bennett had previously delivered three babies via C-section and desired a vaginal birth. When her labor progressed slowly, the hospital initiated a virtual court hearing from her hospital bed. As the hearing proceeded and the baby’s heart rate increased, the judge ordered the surgery.

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital had previously sought court orders to compel patients into unwanted surgeries, with similar cases occurring in 1999 and 2009, according to ProPublica’s reporting.

While C-sections can be necessary in emergency situations, the investigation points out that when labor is simply progressing slowly, as in the cases of Doyley and Bennett, the need for surgery is less clear. The practice of court-ordered C-sections has been documented since at least 1987, with a New England Journal of Medicine survey finding that 81 percent of reviewed cases involved Black, Asian, or Hispanic women. The survey characterized this as “an important and growing problem” with “far-reaching implications.”

These cases unfold within a legal landscape where state laws increasingly define the rights of pregnant women. Currently, 29 states have laws that can override advance directives, even when the fetus is not viable, according to Pregnancy Justice. Both Florida, where Doyley and Bennett gave birth, and other states are considering legislation that would grant legal personhood to embryos and fetuses in wrongful death lawsuits, a move advocates fear could lead to more forced medical interventions.

The potential for bias in medical judgment, particularly regarding assessments of how quickly labor is progressing, contributes to the disproportionate rate of C-sections among Black women, even when their medical profiles are comparable to those of white patients.

The consequences of these unwanted C-sections extend beyond statistics. Doyley told ProPublica that the experience has been so traumatizing that she can no longer work as a birthing doula. “It’s too traumatizing for me,” she said. Bennett reported experiencing daily crying spells following her surgery. “I’m supposed to be thankful,” she told the outlet. “And I’m not even happy.”