Murder charges dropped against doctors who performed late-term abortions

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Murder charges dropped against doctors who performed late-term

By Joe Danielewicz

WASHINGTON, D.C. | Wed Mar 7, 2012 6:35pm EST

(Reuters) - A Maryland prosecutor on Tuesday dropped murder charges against two doctors accused of performing late-term abortions on fetuses that could have lived outside the womb, in a case that drew national attention as a test of fetal homicide law.

In December, 2011, Cecil County, Maryland State's Attorney Ellis Rollins brought murder charges against Drs. Nicola Riley and Steven Brigham.

But on Tuesday, Rollins said a medical expert who had originally offered his opinion that a late-term abortion performed by the doctors in 2010 was in Maryland, now said he was not sure whether it was in Maryland or New Jersey.

The case was the first time Maryland's fetal homicide law was applied to doctors, who are provided with an exception.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/07/us-abortion-maryland-idUSTRE82626720120307

[HopeHoops]

1. Good.

[starroute]

2. Either the article or the case itself is too muddy to quite tell what was going on

First, if the law provides an exception for doctors acting out of medical necessity, how were murder charges brought to begin with?

And second, if the abortion was initiated in New Jersey but completed in Maryland, how are they not able to tell where it occurred? Or is that a matter of some fine point of law and/or medicine where the "medical expert" who testified couldn't make up his mind where to say it happened?

It sounds as though the case was dropped on a technicality, which would mean that it hasn't really changed anything with regard to the law.