Rowland airs her case on cable TV

Melissa Ann Rowland is still speaking out about her case.

Salt Lake County prosecutors originally charged Rowland, who useddrugs while pregnant, with murder after allegedly declining aCaesarean section and later delivering a stillborn child.

She pleaded guilty in April to two third-degree felony counts ofchild endangerment, was given probation and a suspended prisonsentence and was ordered to complete a drug treatment program inwhatever state she chose to live.

Rowland said she planned to quietly get on with her life, butappeared on Greta Van Susteren's TV show "On the Record" Wednesdaydiscussing her case. "I don't think there should be laws regulatingthis," Rowland told the Deseret Morning News in a phone interviewearlier Wednesday. "They should not be able to charge people withmurder for having a stillborn. It goes against human dignity."

Rowland, 28, was charged with first-degree felony murder after oneof her twins was stillborn on Jan. 13. The other twin survived andhas been adopted.

One local doctor urged Rowland to have an emergency C-sectionbecause he believed the babies were at risk, but she refused, courtdocuments state. Rowland has repeatedly denied this.

Rowland admitted in a plea bargain that she used cocaine whilepregnant, and she and the live baby tested positive for the drug justafter the birth.

Her case sparked national headlines and debate.

She left Salt Lake City after her sentencing apparently headingfor an inpatient rehab center in Indianapolis. But she said she hasgotten back with her boyfriend, Roger Brown, the father of the twins,and the couple is living in an undisclosed Ohio town with Brown'srelatives.

"The immediate future is peace and quiet and rehab," she said. Sheplans to enter an outpatient drug treatment program in Ohio.

A spokesman for the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office had nocomment on whether Rowland might be violating her 18 monthunsupervised probation by not immediately checking into rehab. ThirdDistrict Judge Dennis Fuchs, who sentenced her, is forbidden todiscuss pending cases.

While interviewed in jail and on the phone, Rowland soundedextremely agitated and said she was quite depressed. Things weredifferent Wednesday: Rowland sounded relaxed and upbeat, evenlaughing occasionally. "I'm happy. I'm healthy. I'm healing," shesaid.

Rowland said Utah prosecutors were "out of line" for charging herwith murder and she was "not impressed" with local hospitals. "Theytreated me like a criminal."

But Rowland has good words for the female advocacy groups whorallied around her and for her defense attorneys.

As for the media, it's a mixed bag, but overall she appreciatesthe press. She does seem a little surprised at how famous she hasbecome. "You can look up my name on the Internet and there are allthese things."

E-mail: lindat@desnews.com