Doe v. United States

419 F.3d 1058 Jane DOE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES of America; Donald Rumsfeld, in his capacity as Secretary of Defense; Tricare Management Activity, formerly Office of Civilian Health and Medical Programs of the Uniformed Services, Defendants-Appellants. No. 04-35810. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 6, 2005. Filed August 18, 2005. August E. Flentje, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, DC, for the defendants-appellants. Rita V. Latsinova, Stoel Rives LLP, Seattle, WA, for the plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; Thomas S. Zilly, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-02-01657-TSZ. Before CANBY, TALLMAN, and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges. TALLMAN, Circuit Judge. 1 * In July 2002, Jane Doe, the pregnant wife of a naval enlisted man stationed out of Everett, Washington, learned during a routine checkup with her obstetrician that her fetus was anencephalic. Anencephaly is a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic end of the neural tube fails to close. Closure usually completes between the third and…