Outcry in America as pregnant women who lose babies face murder charges

[alp227]

Rennie Gibbs is accused of murder, but the crime she is alleged to have committed does not sound like an ordinary killing. Yet she faces life in prison in Mississippi over the death of her unborn child.

Gibbs became pregnant aged 15, but lost the baby in December 2006 in a stillbirth when she was 36 weeks into the pregnancy. When prosecutors discovered that she had a cocaine habit – though there is no evidence that drug abuse had anything to do with the baby's death – they charged her with the "depraved-heart murder" of her child, which carries a mandatory life sentence.

Gibbs is the first woman in Mississippi to be charged with murder relating to the loss of her unborn baby. But her case is by no means isolated. Across the US more and more prosecutions are being brought that seek to turn pregnant women into criminals.

"Women are being stripped of their constitutional personhood and subjected to truly cruel laws," said Lynn Paltrow of the campaign National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW). "It's turning pregnant women into a different class of person and removing them of their rights."

Full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/24/america-pregnant-women-murder-charges

[CanonRay]

1. The "pro-life" movement is finally reaching its logical, but insane, conclusion

and I hope the outrage end it cold.

[atreides1]

5. You're hoping for a lot...

...outrage at this real "Handmaiden's Tale" isn't going to happen! The majority of the people in the South are all about God, Guns, and denying women any rights not given by the Bible, in other words none!

The bad thing is that this hatred of all things feminine has wormed its way to northern states as well...

[damntexdem]

6. We should not accept their framing: they are anti-choice, not pro-life.

And they are bringing back witch hunts. When will they substitute burning at the stake or stoning to death for life imprisonment?

[MineralMan]

8. More than that. They're anti-women. That's the bottom line.

American Taliban.

[CanonRay]

16. That's why I put it in quotes.

[jul61252]

17. agreed

[aquart]

2. Medieval Mississippi. Remember to burn her at the stake.

And please include any juror who votes to convict.

[GodlessBiker]

3. They're going to have to show causation. What was the cause of death on the Death Certificate?

Although that is sometimes not the final word.

In any case, this is not the way to handle these cases.

[Larkspur]

4. I see that the Xtian Fascist brigade is enforcing their version of sharia law.

Stories like this will turn the tide against the American Taliban.

[dmallind]

9. Oh no - religion has nothing to do with this.

I am reliably informed daily on DU that if it has bad effects, religion cannot have caused it no matter what the agents responsible say was their motivation. But if it's good, then religion caused it whenevr the agents are religious, even if the agents themselves make no such claim. That's the usual opinion anyway.

[Lucian]

7. What a bunch of BS.

This country is moving backwards in thinking and it's pissing me off.

[mainer]

10. Time to prosecute rich white women who have miscarriages

If only there was a way to identify GOP women who've had the misfortune of having miscarriages -- esp. the wives of GOP politicians. Go after a few of those, and you'll see this law overturned.

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. It's a logical outgrowth of the Scott Peterson verdict.

He was convicted of second degree murder in the death of Laci's fetus.

If you can murder a fetus... :shrug:

[southmost]

12. i'm tired of all this anti-feminism b.s.

[valerief]

13. All women should flee Mississippi, the fundie hell, if they can. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Never mind, sorry.

[CrispyQ]

15. This needs to be read by everyone.

k&r