Ruth Ann Burns of Phoenix, Arizona, mother of 2-year-old Nicholas, is suing her doctors for failure to discover her pregnancy in time for her to have an abortion, thus making it difficult, after having two children already, to function independently for the first time in her life.

Attorneys for her doctors counter that she had the option to pursue an abortion after the pregnancy was discovered, but that she failed to pursue it. They add that Ms. Burns already knew a great deal about how to get an abortion in Phoenix, because she had done so three times from 1993 to 1995.

†