The Utah House and Senate has passed a bill that would hold women accountable for trying to induce miscarriages -- with accountability determined by the courts. For instance, the bill is a direct response to the case of a young woman who paid a man $150 to beat her in the hopes of terminating her pregnancy. (It failed, and she gave the baby up for adoption.) Further, the bill does not extend to legally obtained abortions.
Instead, the terms of the bill state that women who attempt to cause miscarriages outside of a doctor’s care will be prosecuted; in many cases, that includes the suspicion against women who suffer accidental falls or display “reckless” behavior like getting drunk, that might lead to a miscarriage.
Lynn M. Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, explains, "What is really radical and different about this statute is that all of the other states' feticide laws are directed to third party attackers. [Other states' feticide laws] were passed in response to a pregnant woman who has been beaten up by a husband or boyfriend. Utah's law is directed to the woman herself and that's what makes it different and dangerous."
To be clear, the bill seems to consider all of these scenarios to be the same as the woman who paid her attacker: as attempted murder. But murder requires intention – and though many people are careless, that’s not the same as seeking to destroy a life.
So it really isn’t the woman’s body, is it? If a pregnant woman is to get so drunk that she falls down a flight of stairs and loses the fetus, that experience should be punishment enough – she doesn’t need to go to jail on top of it for what could easily be an accident. And of course, pregnancy issues always have to take into account women in cultures where having multiple children is encouraged, or who lack the money/language to obtain a safe, sterilized abortion. For many women, going to the health center for a procedure is not an option.
[RH Reality Check]
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