Utah Bill Would Punish Women For Having A Miscarriage

[democracy1st]

Run time: 07:58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUr-yX7Cht0   Posted on YouTube: March 02, 2010 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 02, 2010 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 1317

 
Utah Abortion Bill: Punishing Miscarriages or Preventing Crime?

Critics Say Bill Could Lead to Unfair Murder Charges Against Expectant Mothers

A controversial abortion billin Utah meant to prevent planned assaults on unborn children may have opened a loophole that could allow women to be charged with murder if their reckless behavior causes miscarriages.

Gov. Gary Herbert has not indicated whether he will sign the bill into law or veto it, although supporters of the bill say they expect him to approve it. If Herbert does nothing by March 8, the measure automatically becomes law.

The bill was prompted by the case of a pregnant teenager last year who paid someone to beat her, hoping to cause a late term abortion.

But critics argue that allowing homicide charges if a woman's "reckless behavior" causes the unborn child to die opens up the possibility that prosecutors could seek a murder conviction against women who miscarry after not wearing their seatbelts or returning to a partner who has a history of physical abuse.

"This could be misconstrued or construed too aggressively," Democratic Utah state Sen. Ross Romero said. "We all make bad choices in our lives and most of them don't come with criminal burdens. This one does, or may, I should say."

Romero was one of only four senators to vote against his chamber's version of the House bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Carl Wimmer.

Having passed through both chambers, the bill now sits on the governor's desk. He has until March 8 to either sign or veto the bill. If he does neither, it automatically becomes law.

Herbert's spokeswoman Angie Welling said in an e-mail that he has not taken any formal position on the bill.

"He understands that the intent of the bill is not to criminalize miscarriage, nor to restrict a woman's ability to seek a legal abortion. However, he is also aware that concerns exist about possible unintended consequences of the legislation," Welling wrote. "That will be key to his analysis of this legislation, as it is with all other bills with which he is presented."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/utah-abortion-bill-punishing-miscarriages-preventing-crime/story?id=9955517

[vaberella]

1. Candace Brown's example was pure and utter shit. All she had to say was:

If a woman wasn't holding onto the handle bar as she's walking down a the stairs and she trips---it would be considered reckless. Basically a woman can't leave her house, and it would have to be a one story house, because anything she does could be deemed reckless. Talk about barefoot and pregnant...add barefoot, pregnant, and bedridden.

[ananda]

2. Riddle me this.

Why aren't the women of Utah rising up against this?

[vaberella]

8. Probably some of them agree.

If they can accept polygamy, they can accept this.

[Enthusiast]

3. Wimmer is a fundy?

Sounds like a fundy trying to use subterfuge in an effort to prevent abortions. Freaks.

[Bitwit1234]

4. Hate to say this but how about arresting a man if he can't perform

after all if he is impotent shouldn't that be a crime. It is just as asinine as a woman having a miscarriage.

[Shining Jack]

5. K&R

Nuts. :grr:

[greiner3]

6. "In her 17th month of pregnancy;"

Was she an elephant?

[spicegal]

7. Wow. Just how far will these people go??

He cites one case of one very desperate girl, and thinks there should be a law. He then has the audacity to claim it could only be applied in extreme cases. He's the one who's extreme. This is crazy- another man trying to punish women for something he will never know anything about, an unwanted, unintended pregnancy. You'd have to be pretty damn desperate to pay someone to beat you up.

[onlyadream]

9. Notice how he calls the 17 yo a "woman"

NO WAY - 17 is a KID. So,right there, you see languaged that is skewed, indicating (if this became law) that this type of reaching would continue.

Remind me to never move to Utah.

[greiner3]

10. A huge proportion of miscarriages happen;

Prior to the woman even being aware of pregnancy. What are they going to do, require all women in Utah to turn in their tampons and napkins so some lab can check for this reckless behavior. Hell, the list of possible causes for miscarriages during this stage of pregnancy include:

Alcohol
Soda pop
Anything carbonated
Hot/spicy foods
Being overweight
Being underweight
Being genetically predisposed
Being too old
Being too young
Being poor
Falling down
Falling down and getting back up too quickly causing vertigo
Wrestling
Rough sex
Kinky sex
Real kinky sex
Calm sex
No sex
Being hit
Being kicked
Being shot
Being knifed
Being cut
Attempted suicide
Attempted homicide
Too much exercise
Not enough exercise
The right amount of exercise
Tobacco
Weed
Cocaine
Crank
Amphetamines
Legal prescription drugs
Not taking your legal prescription drugs exactly as prescribed
Eating a large meal
Fasting
Not drinking enough water
Drinking too much water
Dieing your hair
Anything that makes the uterus too acidic or basic
Something that could have happened say 20 years before that damaged that particular egg. While it became fertilized, it was not able to develop after the initial zygote
Flying and having partial decompression happen
Flying and being exposed to too much radiation
Having x-rays taken and being exposed to too much radiation
Have I mentioned just being a fertile woman?