Thursday, February 25, 2010

Illegal Miscarriage

While I am in full favor of making intentional miscarriages illegal, the idea that a state believes they can prosecute a miscarrying mother for murder really rubs me the wrong way. It's one thing to say that a parent who has themselves beaten to miscarry is guilty of performing an illegal abortion; but it is something else to say that a mother who had a drink or didnt wear a seatbelt for a 2 minute drive to the store or who tripped down the stairs is guilty of murder. The night I went into labor with Alexander, I tripped and fell on my yoga mat. I was walking too quickly to the store in a pair of slippers and fell. Did I recklessly endanger my son by wearing slippers on uneven slate? By rushing to the car? Like the woman who fell down the stairs, could someone have thought I fell on purpose?

I dont live in Utah, but I cannot imagine something like this becoming law. Let the Utah state legislature know that you cant imagine it either, regardless of whether or not you live in the state (or the States). If you have miscarried a child, then you know the pain that comes from that without being investigated for intentionally killing your baby because you breathed in second hand smoke.

I want the preborn to have rights. I oppose abortion. But this is ridiculous. I cant even imagine how they would go about investigating this! What are they going to do, hang out in emergency rooms and, for every woman who miscarries, test her urine, smell her hair, and go through her medicine cabinet (or closet?) and see if she possibly did **something** that could have contributed to her loss. I had a stressful job during our miscarriages. Did I intentionally hurt my children since stress can cause pregnancy loss?

Is this really what Utah should be wasting its money on, when there are problems like teenage pregnancy and pregnant moms without prenatal care?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh wow... I used to live in UT (hubby is military) .. this is ridiculous!!
do you mind? Im gonna post this on my FB to get the word out to ppl who live/have lived there....

Michele said...

post away!!!

K said...

wow- I hadn't read the story of the woman who fell down the stairs- yikes. I thought this was a way to get to illegal abortions, but if they truly did consider prosecuting a woman who fell down the stairs its scarier than I thought. I hope there will be enough outrage to get this taken care of. The good thing is it sounds like a very weak law, but the bad thing is if it goes on the books in order to take it down (which it would certainly lose if legally challenged) someone will have to suffer prosecution under it. That poor person.

Mother Knows Best Reviews said...

This is just awful. That poor woman - to be suffering such a sad loss, and to have all of this happen. I can't even imagine.

Malory said...

Crazy. Its scary to even think the "creation" of this law has even made it this far!

MrsSpock said...

The man and woman involved in the "beaten to miscarry" incident certainly deserved to be punished- and that child needs to be taken away, without a doubt. But punishing all miscarrying women for these incidents which are not as common is unfair. Maybe if they increased penalties for crimes against pregnant women?