Gross Miscarriage Of Justice For Woman Who Had A Miscarriage
My adorbs young libertarian friend, Billy Binion, has a piece in Reason about a woman sentenced to four years in prison for having a miscarriage:
Brittney Poolaw has been sitting in an Oklahoma jail for more than a year and a half. She will spend still more time behind bars, having been recently convicted of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 4 years in prison for miscarrying her child last year.In May 2020, Poolaw, then a teen, arrived at a local hospital after losing the fetus at 17 weeks. She was soon transferred to a cell and charged with the felony, on the theory that drug abuse had led to the fetus' demise.
At trial, the veracity of that claim was in doubt, with an expert witness for the prosecution testifying that Poolaw's drug use may not have been a direct cause of death. An autopsy concluded that the unborn child had tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine--but it also found a congenital abnormality, placental abruption, and chorioamnionitis, an infection associated with "maternal, perinatal, and long-term adverse outcomes," including stillbirth.
In other words, it's entirely possible that Poolaw's miscarriage had nothing to do with her behavior. "No expert at trial stated that her drug use caused the miscarriage," says Dana Sussman, deputy executive director for the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. "It's a confounding case on many levels."
..."Last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that criminal laws can be applied to pregnant women in the context of child abuse and child neglect, and therefore by extension manslaughter and murder, when the harm is felt by a viable fetus," says Sussman. (Viability is usually understood to begin at 24 weeks.) As a legal matter, Poolaw's conviction and sentence go against the foundation of how the U.S. approaches such issues.
I'm less interested in the legal argument, though, than in considering the deleterious effects of holding women criminally accountable when they lose a pregnancy. Such an approach, I believe, is not in fact "pro-life."
It should go without saying that taking meth is not a good idea. Doing so while pregnant is doubly irresponsible and reckless. But putting women on trial for poor choices that inadvertently harm their fetuses is the sort of slippery slope that will both punish undeserving people and harm the long-term health of women and babies.
...Still more perplexing is this issue of inviting harm, and where the state decides to draw the line. Drinking alcohol in certain quantities during certain parts of pregnancy is sometimes associated with increased chance of miscarriage, but where exactly the deadly threshold is remains mired in uncertainty. Should a struggling alcoholic go to prison for maybe causing the death of her fetus? People have complex problems, and addictions aren't easily solved by throwing someone in prison for several years.
"Every single medical and public health association or organization in this country [has] condemned the use of criminal laws to address drug use and pregnancy," adds Sussman. "It sends a message that they should avoid prenatal care, that they should not be honest with their doctors, not try to get the help that they need, and puts them in a really difficult position to have healthy pregnancies." Poolaw showed up at a hospital of her own free will. Prosecutions like this make it less likely that others in her situation will do the same.
Get an abortion and you'll stay free, the state implies. But if you show up at a hospital for help during or after a miscarriage, we might imprison you for years. Whatever this system is, it is not pro-life.
Keep this in mind when you observe Federal impact on health care issues and new legislation: if someone succeeds in defining an embryo as a person, expectant mothers can easily be charged with crimes if they fail to meet other behavioral criteria - and the State could easily mandate "health checks" on the precedent of mandatory vaccination.
Here's one of many times this issue has been discussed here. It remains to be solved.
Radwaste at October 18, 2021 4:40 AM
"inadvertently harm" She didn't know drug use could harm the pregnancy or at over 4 months didn't know she was pregnant? I don't find either that credible.
I'll go along with not knowing everything that can harm a pregnancy but drug use.
Sorry but we have safe harbor laws where a woman can legally drop off a kid no questions asked. Because the alternative is she'll probably kill the kid. If a father had a baby in a car and had an accident while on drugs and something happened to the kid, no one would care if it had nothing to do with the drugs.
"Prosecutions like this make it less likely that others in her situation will do the same."
The same being not be on drugs while pregnant (good) or the same being not going to the hospital before or after the miscarriage.(bad)
The intent is the first, Sussman's interpretation is it can only possibly be the later.
Sorry but with libertarian ideals a person has to take responsibility for their actions.
Joe J at October 18, 2021 5:11 AM
The end point of this slippery slope is making mifepristone induced miscarriages at any stage of pregnancy a criminal offence.
Robert Fanshaw at October 18, 2021 7:03 AM
Chorioamnionitis can be the direct result of un-sterile IV drug administration.
Bilbow at October 18, 2021 7:09 AM
Overzealous and unscrupulous prosecutors ... sort of the mirror image of the Soros-funded DA's who can't bring themselves to charge anyone of a particular social demographic, regardless of their criminal acts. Both are evil.
And there is no end in sight to the ways these people can justify meddling in our lives to an extent undreamed of by any of us. It's not much of a stretch to go from physical causality to mental causality. The regimes will find a way to twist logic to make anyone they dislike criminally liable, and anyone they favor faultless.
This has more to do with politics and culture wars than it does real ethical law. Another nail in the coffin of an honest decent safe America.
ruralcounsel at October 18, 2021 7:36 AM
I agree she knew, this isn't like sushi or blue cheese.
That said, how much do we want to be prosecuting women for what they do to their own bodies? Slippery slope here...
NicoleK at October 18, 2021 9:12 AM
"but it also found a congenital abnormality, placental abruption, and chorioamnionitis, an infection associated with "maternal, perinatal, and long-term adverse outcomes," including stillbirth."
all of which can be and almost certainly were, in this case, caused by the drugs. Not saying I agree with the extent of the prosecution, I don't know enough of the facts. But she is in no way innocent.
momof4 at October 18, 2021 11:48 AM
"That said, how much do we want to be prosecuting women for what they do to their own bodies? Slippery slope here..." ~NicoleK
Something something get vaccinated or get fired?
Ben at October 18, 2021 1:47 PM
Damn. If she'd just had an abortion instead. But she missed the 15 week cut-off.
Baker at October 18, 2021 6:42 PM
So it isn't just an innocent women having a miscarriages and being imprisoned by backwards religious bigots; which is what the title here implies.
This is a drug user and whether or not her drug use hurt her baby seems to be a complicated matter of biology, ethics, and legal theory. So it's a lot more complicated than you originally framed it.
"That said, how much do we want to be prosecuting women for what they do to their own bodies? Slippery slope here..." ~NicoleK
Hey Nicole can you explain something to me? Why do women seem to not understand the very simple and obvious point that when there is a baby inside of them it is no longer just their body? Ethically speaking the life of the unborn child also starts to matter at a certain point.
Some Goy at October 19, 2021 9:26 AM
It's in determining that point that we seem to be having issues as a society.
Conan the Grammarian at October 19, 2021 12:44 PM
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