Woman Who Attempted Suicide Being Charged With Murder Because She Was Pregnant

[pandora]

From my lovely home state:

 

Yeah, that was kinda low of the lady, but she was depressed and severely depressed people don't think clearly, not to mention hormonal depressed women.    The baby was viable and was born since the mother didn't die.   The baby died three days after birth from bleeding in the brain, after being given a clean bill of health by a physician.  She used warfarin (a blood thinner).  I assume a clean bill of health meant the baby's clotting times were back to normal.   It is very possible the baby didn't even die because of the suicide attempt.  The baby is dead and gone... my heart goes out to the woman.   I really hope the jury is merciful.

 

I think the fundies are going to use this case as a wedge for further legal control of women during pregnancy.

 

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/08/17238341-woman-who-ate-rat-poison-while-pregnant-charged-with-murder#comments

 

That reminds me, did ya'll hear Arkansas actually outlawed abortions for less than 12 weeks?  It is called "The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act."   That title makes me laugh for some reason...  the state will get its socks sued off, thankfully, and it will probably never be enforced... but damn, if this shit keeps happening, I might commit suicide myself.

[RipVanWinkle]

Depressed pregnant woman charged murder of baby after failed suicide attempt? What a bunch of damned idiots.  Politicians will come crawling out from under their rocks to try to fry that poor woman.  bill

[Guest Pixie]

I find this to be such a sad article.The poor dear doesn't need anymore criticisms. She is alive and her baby is dead. She needs desperate help. I hope someone sees this or she will succed at her next attempt. Life can be so sad.

[JadedAtheist]

They have to be consistent I guess. If a person harms a pregnant women in some places and the baby dies, they can be charged with murder. So the baby now has personhood and anyone harming it will face the legal consequences.

[SilentLoner]

Betcha a lot of the so-called "pro life" folk are clamoring to send the woman to death row. 

[Akheia]

Jeez, that poor woman. I can't even imagine the state of mind she had to be in, and probably is in now. That's so humbling and horrifying all at once to consider what got her to that point.

 

Idaho just had its fetal pain bill struck down by federal courts. YAY! It was almost as restrictive as the heartbeat bill and the judge rightfully knocked it out because a) it was an impediment to legal, pre-viability abortion, and um DUH, nobody's potential "pain" overrides a person's right to choose whether to donate their bodies to another's cause. I'm on cloud nine. Makes me feel like using Margee's favorite emoticon!

 

I seriously and truly am starting to think these ridiculous, obviously-illegal anti-abortion bills are being pushed through purely to get Republicans votes. That the majority of Americans don't want such laws doesn't matter; they believe their core fanbase (fundies) wants this stuff done, and whether the bills pass or fail, the Republican wins. Either it passes, in which case YAY! The Republican is a hero and saved pweshus baybeez! Or it fails, in which case YAY! The Republican is still a hero but dammit, those godless atheist Satanic liberals outvoted him this time.

[SoaringFree]

What a fucking load of crap!  I was suicidal when I was younger, so I know how awful it can be. Now all the so-called "pro-lifers" will be screaming for her blood, and I honestly won't be suprised if she does succeed in the next suicide attempt. Terrible...

[Thurisaz]

Part of me wants to say something about this, then the rest of me interjects "Don't say anything, just seek out the ones who had the idea and kick the shit out of them".

[wanderinstar]

Is not the best thing for the community to have this woman successfully rehabilitated  so she can carry on with her life and function well in society? She is no danger to anyone else but herself at this point and laying murder charges on her will only serve to push her well over the edge again. For a pregnant woman to attempt suicide she must be in the most unbearable pain and/or circumstances as the natural instinct to protect her child would be an incredibly tough barrier to overcome to enable her to act.

 

In my opinion this woman clearly was not in a fit state of mind to be making decisions worthy of a criminal murder charge. Lengthy in-hospital treatment would be most suitable. I don't minimize the fact that she disregarded the life of her unborn child but it would be only more tragic if her life was lost as well. People must remember the actual reasons we have a justice system. Part of it is punishment that fits the crime but the other, equally important, part is rehabilitation to enable the person to return to be a functioning member of society. For this woman to get to that place she needs to be treated with gentleness, compassion, wisdom and care. I am sure she hates herself enough to punish her a million times over already.

[RankStranger]

I'm not saying I support this kind of thing- I don't.  But it's a messy issue.  If a drunk driver causes a wreck and a pregnant woman loses her baby- he's charged with murder (not sure what degree).  That's pretty common. 

 

What's the difference here?

 

Personally I'm against murder charges in both cases.

[Akheia]

I'm not thrilled with the idea of a fetus meriting a murder charge. If it's legal to abort it, it seems unfair to charge someone with its death. That seems like a short step down the hall to prosecuting women who miscarry or, in this particular case, who try to hurt themselves and accidentally abort a fetus in the process. The OT had one thing right--it assigned a much lower value to a fetus that was killed than to an already-here person. I find myself recoiling from the idea that a woman who is already in severe emotional distress is going to be prosecuted for the death of a fetus as well. That just seems like those authorities are pushing her right over a cliff in their charge to make an ideological point.

 

It's messy all right. We accept (at least most of us do anyway) that the woman carrying the fetus gets the final say in its worth... but personhood's definition is a purely subjective thing, not something we can say is a black and white matter. Are we saying, by allowing this murder charge to proceed, that we're allowing someone to force his/her definition of that fetus' value onto others? I'm just not comfy with that. We need that definition to be kept fluid and dynamic.

[Akheia]

That was so cute, BO! An attempt at threadjacking AND your usual total lack of empathy, PLUS a quick little assumption about people that fits your bizarre persecution fantasies. It's like Christmas... If you're trying your damndest to make me distrust and dislike NRA freaks *and* libertarians, you could hardly have chosen a better way to go about it than that single post.