Monday, April 06, 2015

Indiana woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide. The inevitable result of aggressive anti-abortion laws.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

In a ruling that’s already caused uproar across the country, Purvi Patel was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison for committing feticide. Patel, a 33-year-old woman from Indiana, was accused of illegally inducing her own abortion and subsequently having a baby she allowed to die. Last July, Patel visited an emergency room with severe bleeding and eventually told doctors she’d miscarried. When questioned about the location of the fetal remains, she said she was unsure what to do, so she wrapped the fetal remains in a bag and threw the bag in a Dumpster. Patel was then living with her conservative Hindu parents and in a relationship with a married co-worker, which helps explain why she felt it necessary to hide the pregnancy and dispose of the remains so quickly. 

While Patel has maintained that she miscarried and delivered a stillborn baby, prosecutors insisted that she induced a late-term abortion with pills she ordered on the internet and gave birth to a living fetus that died almost instantly. A toxicology report produced no evidence of such drugs in her system, but prosecutors pointed to texts Patel exchanged with a friend in which she claimed to have ordered pills from a pharmacy in Hong Kong. Because the age of the fetus was heavily contested, it’s possible that had she gotten a prescription for the pills in the U.S., the pregnancy termination (if that’s what happened) would have been legal. It remains illegal to order such pills online. 

If Patel did self-induce an abortion, it’s essential to understand the legal restrictions she faced as a resident of Indiana. The state has only 11 abortion clinics and an exhaustive list of abortion restrictions. Indiana prohibits certain qualified health-care professionals from performing abortions, restricts young women’s access to abortion by requiring parental consent, subjects abortion providers to targeted (and burdensome) regulations not applied to other medical professionals, subjects women to biased counseling and mandatory delays, has passed unconstitutional bans on abortion, prohibits certain state employees and organizations with state funding from referring women to abortion services, restricts access to other reproductive health care, and restricts low-income women’s access to abortion.

The article goes on to question the case against Patel, including expert medial testimony that at 24 weeks the fetus was not viable, and would have died even if born alive. 

What we as a country need to recognize is that if the Republicans get their way this will become a much more common occurrence, and soon women will be arrested for miscarriages that happen even during the first trimester of their pregnancy, without any evidence of wrongdoing on the mother's part.

In the conservative world women were created to give life. And failing that biological imperative, they have no real value.

And in their world the fetus is the most precious of all lives, far more important than the life of a woman who cannot even manage get pregnant or give birth correctly.

That is why their focus is not only making it impossible to get an abortion, but even doing away with birth control itself.

36 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:27 PM

    Her religious indoctrination led her to make this rash decision. If she wasn't raised hindu with hindu parents that would have shunned her for being pregnant she just would have continued the pregnancy and been a single mother. Instead, religious doctrine caused her to react in such a fashion. So sad, for both her and her child.

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    1. Caroll Thompson12:54 PM

      Say what?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:12 PM

      Caroll, here is what the article said:

      "Patel was then living with her conservative Hindu parents and in a relationship with a married co-worker, which helps explain why she felt it necessary to hide the pregnancy and dispose of the remains so quickly."

      ------------------------

      Her decision was made based upon the beliefs of her parents and her not wanting to upset them by being pregnant out of wedlock from a married co-worker. She made a rash life or death decision based on the religious beliefs of her parents and her desire not to upset them.

      Delete
    3. Caroll Thompson1:46 PM

      I see. I can't help but think a good attorney would have made all of this go away.

      I once had a miscarriage and did not go to the hospital or a doctor. The deal was done and I didn't see the need (plus I had no insurance or money for a doctor). I guess I was lucky not to be locked up.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous3:18 PM

      It seems that the current trends are taking us to the point where any woman that appears pregnant or has a medical record saying pregnant will have to appear before a judge with either a live baby or a medical certificate of miscarriage.

      My friend that miscarried on the Appalachian Trail would go directly to jail.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous3:40 PM

      Caroll, my experience exactly. So many pregnancies end in miscarriage (part of God's plan for those hypocritical faux-Christians), a lot of them before the woman is aware that she is pregnant. Imagine the number of women who would be in prison for virtually life terms.

      And Anon at 1:12 pm. I don't think that it's clear that she deliberately terminated the pregnancy.
      Beaglemom

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    6. Anonymous4:59 PM

      ABORTION IS LEGAL IN AMERICA!!!!
      maybe not 'mericka but AMERICA where you can be any religion or NONE... ABORTION is legal! Roe vs Wade.
      She could of taken a plan B pill? Or whatever pill is supposed to be available at ever drugstore?
      This crap is BULLSHIT! Abortion is the law of the land whether the cretins believe so or not and also we have the RIGHT to be ANY Religion (including Muslim) if we WANT or to be NO RELIGION what so ever!!!
      I am sick of these fundy bastards dictating what WE are supposed to do and sticking their RELIGION in my uterus!!!
      Fuckin' mind your own swinging dick (b/c its men who make these draconian laws for the most part) and go to your fucktard church and keep it to yerself!!! This is after-all AMERICA!!!
      A Secular nation, the founders founded it that way.
      Wanted to post this on a earlier post G....parents in CA are STILL objecting to Yoga being taught in PE b/c.... got shot down again (GOOD)!
      "Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their two children had brought the lawsuit claiming yoga promoted Hinduism and inhibited Christianity. They were disappointed with the ruling and considering their options. " (Their options? That is how the constitution is written there are no options suck it up buttercups and stfu!)
      http://go.shr.lc/1F6J9Cp
      FFS!!!

      I feel so bad for that woman but (its Indiana) and she is not the only one this"fetal infanticide" has happened too...it is bull fecal and against the US Constitution. The left needs a "something" to counteract all this Fundy KrazyassReligion Bullshit.
      Oh and our queen tundra turd is hooked right into the shit even tho, haahahaa when was the last time SHE was photographed going to church? I believe the Obama's were photographed YESTERDAY going...just saying....
      And we all need to tell POTUS to drop the "God bless the USA" crap. It makes me want to throw up when he says it.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous5:18 PM

      Her religious indoctrination led her to make this rash decision
      ***
      Bullshit!She was not some 16 yr old. Even IF her parents were say like "the palin family" What did sarah say about Bitchol?
      Your slam against Hinduism is bullshit.Your on the wrong blog to post that kind of BS here.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous9:52 PM

      I kinda have to agree with Anon 5:18, although not with as much vitriol. If her parents were really overbearing conservative Hindus, she'd have been married in an arranged marriage long before 33. This girl just sounds like someone who makes poor choices like messing around with a married man. And where is he in all of this? If he was any kind of a real human being he wouldn't have left her to handle this alone--he could have taken her where she could get this problem handled.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:25 AM

      4:59 Thank you for saying that so I didn't have to.
      I'm right there with you. So damn sick of these self righteous assholes and their control issues.

      Delete
  2. Grrrr !12:36 PM

    O/T (sort of) ...

    35 Founding Father Quotes Conservative Christians Will Hate

    http://reverbpress.com/politics/founding-father-quotes-conservative-christians-will-hate/

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Caroll Thompson12:56 PM

      Great List. The one below says it all.

      “The Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”
      ~1797 Treaty of Tripoli signed by Founding Father John Adams

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:26 PM

      That is great! (and a tweet) :)

      Delete
  3. Suzy Q1:00 PM

    What happened to the married co-worker who got her pregnant? That's what I like, the men skate! I hope she named him during her trial. I'm hoping that my fellow Hoosiers wake up and vote the teavangelicaltaliban out of office in the next election. Democrats better wise up and be planning now how to get out the vote in 2020 when the census will decide voting boundaries as in the horribly gerrymandered districts in Indiana and other red states!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Suzy Q1:04 PM

    OT: Jeb Bush committed voter fraud. He checked the Hispanic box when answering the ethnic question. But hey! Everybody is just lol-ing it off, saying NFBD. Come on Republicans, prosecute voter fraud that you're always whining about every election!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous2:09 PM

      I always check "other". Who can prove I'm white?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:28 PM

      Oh and like remember when Todd Palin checked AIP instead of "Independent"? Either they can't read or....THEY'RE LIARS?

      Delete
  5. Anonymous1:07 PM

    I can't help but wonder whether a blue-eyed, blonde-haired "Janie Smith" would have been convicted. Purvi Patel must have had the wrong name, religion, and/or appearance.

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  6. Caroll Thompson1:55 PM

    I totally agree that the right is coming for the birth control. They want to control women and keeping women barefoot and pregnant is still the name of game with a lot of these nut jobs.

    Well, I have news for the right; we women are not going back to be treated as chattel by men. Having a penis does not mean you are superior to those with a vagina.

    If women were meant to be inferior to men, why do I and many other women have a brain that can't be beat and a tongue to match.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous5:09 AM

      This should be signed by 158,000,000 more women! Well said Caroll!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:33 AM

      Show me where to sign.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Girls and young women get the GOP message loud and clear. It is safer to go for an illegal abortion than risk having the authorities take control of your body.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for covering this story, Gryphen.

    On Twitter Purvi is getting a lot of support from people in India, which is great, but we need a lot more Americans to raise the roof over this. Gov. Pence needs to have his feelings hurt over the nasty things people say about Indiana due to the Purvi Patel conviction just as much as over the anti-gay RFRA.

    http://in.gov/gov/2333.htm
    Contact link for Indiana Gov. Pence.

    Pence needs to hear from lots of Americans demanding he issue a full pardon for Purvi.

    I will boycott Indiana, and badmouth Indiana daily, until Purvi Patel is released. Outrageous.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Paul in Minnesota10:33 PM

      I agree. I read about this story this weekend. It isn't enough that Indiana is a (pardon to all the Indianans who are stuck in a conservative shithole) well, it is now a conservative shithole run by Pence and others who pandersto national political religious conservatives.

      I don't know what to do other than write him since I don't live in that state. I also signed a petition. I will support progressive causes, businesses and people there, yet it's awful there. It has to change. It is outrageous. I agree.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for adding your voice to the call for justice.

      All I can do is try to pressure Gov. Pence from afar, as you are doing, too. The more, the better.

      Delete
  9. We are heading towards the future in The Handmaid's Tale.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous5:39 PM

      I just wrote that....

      Delete
  10. Anonymous2:36 PM

    What scares me is the number of post replies I've read on this story that just blatantly say "If the fetus was alive at birth, that was the right call. She should totally go to jail."

    Now, I agree, putting the remains in a dumpster does not look good, but it does not make this murder, and it does not make this something that one should get a jail sentence for 20 years over (or even one. A minimal amount of court ordered community service would be more than appropriate IMO, and more productive, and much less of a burden on the already overburdened and underfunded criminal justice system).

    Even if the fetus was born alive, what on earth was she supposed to do? They can't live more than minutes outside the womb born that many weeks premature, and even if she could have gotten to a hospital within that time, if the facility didn't have the right kind of prenatal care equipment, the fetus still would not have survived. And what would the bills have been? Who would have paid them?


    I will be following this story. I hope she has a good lawyer who is preparing an appeal.

    George Zimmerman got people to send him hundreds of thousands of dollars for his defense. The non-gay-wedding-catering pizza people (apparently with the help of the Glenn Beck Machine) got people to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars via Go-Fund-Me.

    Is it too late for us to do something like this for Ms. Patel? Or does anyone know if something has already been started? Please pass the info along if you know.

    MarvinM

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    1. Concerning dumping the fetus - I would just add that while it may seem not a good action - traditionally, this is the way things have been done. A sentimentality about fetal remains is a very recent thing, historically. In these times, there is often a formal burial, and with even early miscarriages, the woman has the opportunity to view the fetus and keep it by her to come to terms with her loss. Pro-life types want to conduct funerals for aborted fetuses, etc.

      However, I am old enough to remember that, as recently as the 1960s, when a fetus was just regarded as medical waste, and promptly discarded. I knew devout Catholic women who, when they had a miscarriage, which could be well into the pregnancy, they just washed the remains away off the sheets. No one thought of doing otherwise.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous3:20 PM

    And Darren Sharper will get 10 years for multiple rapes. The punishments are way off.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous3:35 PM

    I find it alarming that legislators can blithely pass laws about women's medical issues without the least understanding of what the science behind the issue is. Women have had miscarriages ("spontaneous abortions" until Sarah Palin whited hers out) since the beginning of time. It is nature's (or God's) way of dealing with problems that should not proceed. Any one of us who ever had a miscarriage should be quaking in our boots and, at the very least, we should sympathize with this young woman, who went through what must have been a terrifying experience burdened as well with the cultural divide between her indian culture. Between the physical pain, the fear of her cultural taboos and the trauma of having to deal with a delivered fetus, she must have been out-of-her-mind upset. Had the young woman been a typical Indiana white woman from a fundamentalist Christian background she would never have been arrested to start with. A lot of what happened in that courtroom had to do with the cultural differences and what we now know is Indiana intolerance.
    Beaglemom

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  13. Anonymous3:57 PM

    There are two separate and distinct justice systems in this country. Where are the Fathers? Where are the lines of couples willing to get this woman protection from religion and her own family? If you're a woman, you're guilty before being proven innocent. Anyone know what her private medical records have to say? Was there something wrong with the Fetus? Yes, she made a poor choice and slept with a man who was married and used her for his own gratification, but until anyone walks in her shoes, how dare they judge her a murderer.
    If a pizza place can raise millions on the net, she should be allowed the same treatment, get the best lawyers she can, and expose the philanderer for what he is. I don't like where this is headed. I have two daughters and a son and I'll be damned if they get railroaded by rwnj's,

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  14. Grrrr !5:12 PM

    The most galling part of all this is the Republicans' unapologetic, undisquised, unrepentant sexism !!

    From an LA Times editorial, 2/17/12 (emphases MINE!):

    "This week, THERE WERE NO WOMEN appearing with the first panel before a House committee, which titled its hearings 'Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State' but that really was about the healthcare overhaul's requirement that employers' health insurance policies cover contraception.

    "The Democrats’ witness of choice -- a female Georgetown law student whose friend couldn't get access to contraceptive treatment there because of the university's religious affiliation, and who, evidently as a consequence, lost an ovary because of a syndrome that causes ovarian cysts -- was not permitted to testify. That, according to California Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), who heads the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was because SHE IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE CLERGY, unlike the five men who did testify.

    "A letter to Democratic members from Issa's staff explained the decision not to let the student testify; it said the hearing 'is not about reproductive rights but about the administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience.'"

    http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2012/02/where-are-the-women.html

    SO, THE HEARING WAS ABOUT "RELIGION AND CONSCIENCE" ???

    From the hearing's page:

    "This hearing is about basic question of religious freedom, and whether or not protection will be afforded to religious institutions who wish to follow their conscience in refusing to pay for PRODUCTS THEY FIND MORALLY OBJECTIONABLE."

    http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/lines-crossed-separation-of-church-and-state-has-the-obama-administration-trampled-on-freedom-of-religion-and-freedom-of-conscience/

    GRRRRRR !!!!!

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  15. Anonymous7:15 PM

    Obama better DAMN well give clemency to this woman!
    Damn!

    Also, a counter ALEC should be established and laws should be pushed that NO MAN SHALL HAVE INTERCOURSE WITHOUT HAVING THE INTENTION OF FATHERING A CHILD.
    Is that included in any laws? Are MEN punished in any way? Even this so-called GOD knew it takes two to tango. Sorry, make a child. If the Mother goes to prison, for SURE the father has to go in for time and a half?

    Let's start putting the burden on the MEN.

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    1. Add to that. Sexually active men shall set up an escrow account for child support of future possible offspring.

      Every time they have sex, they must put $100 in the account.

      They will not have access to this account.

      DNA must also be on file.

      Should a woman come forward and paternity proved, money will be distributed from that account.

      Let's see how the right wing likes the shoes being on the other foot.

      You better believe men will start taking responsibility for protection.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous8:36 AM

    Hey! We're headed back to the golden age of the 1950's, where Negros had their separate but equal facilities; women were shoeless & pregnant in their kitchens rustling up grub for the men-folk; and doctors advertised cigarettes. Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete

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