Utah Women May Face Murder Charges After Miscarriages

[babylonsister]

Utah Women May Face Murder Charges After Miscarriages
Outrage at bill that could jail women who 'recklessly' endanger unborn children

by David Usborne in New York


A proposed Utah law that would open women who suffer a miscarriage to possible criminal prosecution and life imprisonment has enraged feminists and civil rights activists across the United States.

Adopted overwhelmingly by both sides of the state legislature in Salt Lake City earlier this month, the draft bill is now awaiting the signature of the state's Republican Governor, Gary Herbert. It is not clear if the growing national controversy surrounding the proposed law will slow or even stay his pen.

While the main thrust of the law is to enable prosecutors in the majority-Mormon state to pursue women who seek illegal, unsupervised forms of abortion, it includes a provision that could trigger murder charges against women found guilty of an "intentional, knowing or reckless act" that leads to a miscarriage. Some say this could include drinking one glass of wine too many, walking on an icy pavement or skiing.

Lawmakers were responding to the case of a 17-year-old pregnant Utah woman who paid a man $150 to assault her physically in the hope that the beating would cause her to miscarry. The child was born anyway and put up for adoption. And while the man involved is currently behind bars, prosecutors found they had no basis in state law to prosecute the young woman. She was in her seventh month when she tried to terminate her pregnancy.

Last-minute efforts to remove reference in the bill to "reckless" acts failed, feeding the uproar about a law that some people say would be impossible to implement and threatens basic freedoms of women. Statistics suggest that 15 to 20 per cent of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage. "This creates a law that makes any pregnant woman who has a miscarriage potentially criminally liable for murder," said Missy Bird, director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Utah, part of the national organization that champions abortion rights.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/28-0

[BrklynLiberal]

1. wunnerful...just f***kin wunnerful. Will they be burning witches at the stake soon?

[MUAD_DIB]

5. On another note...

How many marriages go on there of underage girls to older Mormon men.

But when that happens it is alright. :eyes:

[Odin2005]

2. This is so wromg on so many levels.

[izquierdista]

3. I'm all in favor

Considering that women miscarry twice as often as they carry to term, this is a good way to lock up all of the sexually active women in Utah. Now, how to get all the men locked up too..... :think:

[kestrel91316]

4. Let UT do this. I'll be standing by with popcorn.