Indiana woman found guilty of killing premature infant has feticide has conviction dismissed

[jpak]

Source: fox59.com

The Indiana Court of Appeals vacated the conviction of an Indiana woman who was found guilty in 2015 of killing the premature infant she delivered after ingesting aborting-inducing drugs.

Purvi Patel, 35, was convicted on charges of feticide and neglect of a dependent resulting in death. She was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison.

Last month, attorneys for Patel argued the feticide conviction did not fulfill the requirements that the legislation intended. At issue was Indiana’s feticide statute, which the defense says was “passed to protect pregnant women from violence” that could harm their developing fetus, not to prosecute women for their own abortions.

The state argued that law “is not limited to third-party actors” and can apply to pregnant women.

<more>

Read more: http://fox59.com/2016/07/22/indiana-woman-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-for-feticide-has-conviction-dismissed/

---

i wonder what Pense is thinking...

[scscholar]

1. More men trying to own our bodies

Next, they'll make it illegal for us to not go to a doctor.

[mountain grammy]

2. So a pregnant woman, having a drink and a cigarette

could be arrested, except Pence says smoking isn't harmful, and if the liquor industry pays him enough, he'll give them a pass too.

This was a disgusting conviction. I'm glad the woman is free.

[icv03985]

7. Glad she is free - totally agree

[Freddie]

3. Pence, asswipe that he is, is probably relieved

Didn't make him or his state look good to *most* people.

[GummyBearz]

4. "killing the premature infant she delivered..."

Uh... I know there are blurry lines about where life starts. But I thought if you actually deliver a baby, and then kill it, that is murder? Am I missing something? There are news stories from time to time about tossing a baby in a dumpster, and it results in a criminal investigation right?

[malthaussen]

5. The article is unclear about what the status of the baby was...

... when it was placed in the dumpster. If she took drugs to induce premature delivery and the child was dead upon delivery, the legal status would probably be different from what it would be if the child was technically alive (although at 1 1/2 lbs, it isn't likely to live very long without some serious support ASAP). It's certainly a grey area, though, and far from simply indicting a woman for having an abortion.

In any case, the question here is whether her actions are "feticide" under the current statute, which the court has ruled is not the case.

-- Mal

[dembotoz]

6. she was something of a cause/celeb due to her conviction and just another reason to hate pence

not that i need more

[Sunlei]

8. She will be re sentenced by the court for 'class D felony neglect of a dependent'. Mercy for her...

Mercy for her, she's been 'punished' enough for her very poor decisions.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. Pence. . . . THINKING? Perish the thought.

[secondwind]

10. So happy she is free..... :-)

[smirkymonkey]

12. So am I.

This was bullshit. I am so sick of men trying to control women's bodies.

[Adrahil]

11. Makes me think....