Court Opinion

ID: 9681811
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:56:59.887761+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:36.003160
License: Public Domain

CADENA, Justice
(dissenting).
I see no reason for holding that a person whose negligent conduct produces a result which he must have foreseen is not liable for the consequences of his negligent act. The majority opinion bases this absolution of the negligent actor on social policy and the difficulty which the victim would encounter in attempting to prove the extent of his damages.
Recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, however much these fieri-1 sions may be condemned as being based on unacceptable moral standards, establish the legal right of persons to resort to procfc-dures which will prevent conception and, within certain limits, to terminate an existing pregnancy. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 70S, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973); Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 93 S.Ct. 739, 35 L.Ed.2d 201 (1973); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 14 L. Ed.2d 510 (1965). In Wade, Justice Douglas, concurring, speaks of the freedom of choice in the basic decisions of one’s life respecting . . . procreation . . . .” 410 U.S. at 211, 93 S.Ct. at 757, 35 L.Ed.2d at 187. It is, therefore, impermissible to say that social policy requires that a husband and wife be denied the right to limit the number of children which they will bring into the world, or that a person shall be allowed, by his negligent conduct, to frustrate the realization of the married couple’s aim to limit the size of their family.
Apparently, the social policy which is relied on as supporting the denial of recovery in this case is the notion that, as stated in the opinion of the Eastland Court of Civil Appeals in Hays v. Hall, 477 S.W.2d 402, 406 (Tex.Civ.App.1972, rev’d 488 S.W.2d 412 [Tex.1973]), that it would be undesirable “. . . to allow damages for the birth and upbringing of a normal child . . . ” since that would “ . . . mean that the doctor would have to pay for the satisfaction and joy and affection which normal parents would ordinarily have in the rearing and education of a healthy child.”
Neither the majority opinion in this case nor the opinion of the Eastland Court in Hays attempts to articulate the social policy which is being furthered by assuring doctors that they may, without fear of incurring liability, negligently perform sterilization operations. Such a rule does nothing to increase the importance of the family unit in our society.
There remains the argument that plaintiffs in this case would experience great difficulty in proving the amount of damages to which they woild be entitled. This argument is expressed in the majority opinion in the form of the question, “Who can place a price tag on a child’s smile . ?”
*129It may be assumed that the “benefits rule” 1 is applicable to a case where a bungling physician has forced on unwilling parents the additional economic burden of raising a child which they did not want and would not have had if the physician had acted with reasonable care. '
It may, indeed,' be difficult to “place a price tag on a child’s smile.” But there is no support for the conclusion that the task cannot be performed. The courts of other states have undertaken the difficult task of assigning a value on a child’s smile in cases involving the wrongful killing of children, and have awarded the bereaved parents damages for the loss of companionship and comfort. Wardlow v. City of Keokuk, 190 N.W.2d 439 (Iowa 1971); Lockhart v. Besel, 71 Wash.2d 112, 426 P.2d 605 (1967); Fussner v. Andert, 261 Minn. 347, 113 N.W.2d 355 (1962); Prosser, Torts, Section 121, p. 930 (3d ed. 1964). I have no reason to believe that the Texas courts are less competent. Nor do the Texas courts fee! they are incapable of solving the problem. In alienation of affection suits our courts have awarded the injured spouse damages for “loss of consortium,” which includes the loss of “affection, society, comforts and assistance of” the spouse whose affections have been alienated. Smith v. Smith, 225 S.W.2d 1001, 1006 (Tex.Civ.App.-Amarillo 1950, no writ); 30 Tex.Jur.2d, Husband and Wife, Sections 3, 153. It is not unreasonable to assume that, in placing a “price tag” on companionship and affection, it is necessary to consider the value of a “smile.” The difficulties are the same, whether the “smile” which is being evaluated is that of a spouse or a child.
In any event, the. fact that the extent of damages may be difficult to ascertain should not cause the courts to throw up their hands in frustration. Even the dice player who is faced with the admittedly difficult task of rolling a “10” is afforded the opportunity to roll the dice. If he fails, he loses, but the dice are not snatched from his hand with the explanation that the “point” is too difficult to make.
Finally, factors which result in the mitigation of damages do not have the effect of vitiating the cause of action.
The majority’s reliance on Hays v. Hall, supra, is, I believe, misplaced. In the first place, the opinion of the Eastland Court of Civil Appeals begs the question by assuming that a man and woman who want no children will derive joy and satisfaction, that is, they will receive a “benefit,” by having the obligation of raising a child thrust upon them as a result of a doctor’s negligence. The Eastland Court also misstated the question before it. The question is not whether a doctor should be forced “to pay for the satisfaction and joy and affection which normal parents would ordinarily have in the rearing and education of a healthy child.” The question is whether a negligent doctor should be held responsible for the consequences of his negligence. There is no basis for the assumption that plaintiffs here will derive any joy and satisfaction from the raising of the unwanted child. The mere indulging of this assumption, in support of the rendition of a summary judgment, does violence to the rules ordinarily applicable in summary judgment cases. Perhaps these parents, in deciding that they did not want to pay the price for the enjoyment and pleasures which “normal” parents would derive from the birth of an unwanted child, were not acting as “normal” persons. *130But it is hornbook law that a tort feasor must take his victim as he finds him and has no right to insist on a “normal” victim.
Further, the conclusion of the Court of Civil Appeals in Hays is merely that the award of damages measured by the cost of raising a child "... would not be justified by the facts of . . .” that case. 477 S.W.2d at 406. The Supreme Court, in reversing the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals, tells us what the “facts” of that case are. According to the Supreme Court, the “facts” in that case were that the purpose of the sterilization operation was “. . .to avoid the possibility of the birth of other deformed children . . . .” Hays v. Hall, 488 S.W.2d 412, 413 (Tex.1973). The “facts” in the case before us are that the purpose of the sterilization operation was to avoid the possibility of the birth of any children. This not insignificant difference in the purpose of the operation in Hays and the operation here, perhaps, explains the East-land Court’s statement concerning the joy and satisfaction derived from raising a “healthy” child by parents who sought only to avoid the birth of a deformed child.
It should not be overlooked that, however persuasive may be the reasoning of the Eastland Court in support of its judgment in Hays, that judgment was reversed by the Supreme Court of Texas. It is true that the Supreme Court did no more than hold that the Eastland Court had erred in holding that the plaintiffs’ cause of action, which included a cause of action for damages measured by the cost of raising a healthy child, was barred by limitations. But the reversal of the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals was unqualified, and the Supreme Court remanded the case to the trial court for trial on the merits. The plaintiffs in Hays were seeking recovery not only for the mental pain and anguish borne by the mother in giving birth, and the cost of the pregnancy and delivery, but also for the cost of raising the child. It was this entire cause of action, and not merely a portion of it, which was remanded to the trial court for a hearing on the merits. There is nothing in the opinion of the Supreme Court which indicates an approval of any part of the holding by the Court of Civil Appeals.
The opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals in Hays, then, carries no impressive precedential weight. It is open to question whether that reversed opinion deserves the designation “law of the case.” The opinions accorded the accolade, “law of the case” in Kitchens v. Kitchens, 387 S.W.2d 89 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1965, writ ref’d n.r.e.), and Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hicks, 47 S.W.2d 466 (Tex.Civ.App.-Austin 1932, writ ref’d), have one characteristic which the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals in Hays lacks. In neither Kitchens nor Hicks was the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals reversed by the Supreme Court.
Even if the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals in Hays be regarded as the law of that case, it is not the law of this case. The portion of the Hays opinion relied on by the majority is persuasive only to the extent that the reasoning on which it is based is persuasive. The opinion does not disclose the reasoning on which it is based. If, indeed, the satisfaction which normal parents derive from raising a child outweighs, as a matter of law, the considerable expense of raising a child, it would follow that such joy and satisfaction would outweigh the relatively insignificant medical costs of the pregnancy and delivery. “Normal” mothers are willing to undergo the physical pain and mental anguish, if any, of giving birth, and “normal” parents are willing to pay all medical expenses incident to the birth of a child. There is no discernible reason for allowing recovery for these relatively minor “damages” and denying recovery for the substantial costs of raising and educating a child. The reasoning by which the Eastland Court arrived at the conclusion that the benefits derived by parents from the birth of a child outweigh the heavy costs of raising the child, but do not outweigh the burden of paying the *131medical expenses incident to such birth is not revealed by the Eastland Court’s opinion.
I see no reason for departing from the rule that a negligent person is liable for the foreseeable consequences of his negligence. There is no justification for holding, as a matter of law, that the birth of an “unwanted” child is a “blessing.” The birth of such a child may be a catastrophe not only for the parents and the child itself, but also for previously born siblings. The doctor whose negligence brings about such an undesired birth should not be allowed to say, “I did you a favor,” secure in the knowledge that the courts will give to this claim the effect of an irrebut-table presumption.

. The “benefits rule,” according to 4 Restatement, Torts, Section 920 (1939), is applicable where “. . . the defendant’s tortious conduct has caused harm to the plaintiff . . . and in so doing has conferred upon the plaintiff a special benefit to the interest . . .” invaded by defendant’s wrongful act. It might be asked whether a person’s interest in having no more children receives a benefit from a doctor’s negligence which results in the birth of an unwanted child. See 4 Restatement, Torts, Section 920, comment b (1939).