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A murder case in nearby Kings County gives off a whiff of the social control of women portrayed in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. A woman was charged with murder following the stillbirth of her baby with toxic levels of methamphetamine in its system.* The woman sought to have the charge dismissed as a misinterpretation of the murder statute, Penal Code 187, in charging her with the drug-connected stillbirth.
But a Kings County judge denied the motion, and now California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed a “friend of the court” brief on the same grounds. Becerra said that the statute “was intended to protect pregnant women from harm, not charge them with murder,” and he was “committed to seeing [the woman] released from jail with the charges against her dropped.” A week ago she was still in jail, on $2 million bail.
Kamala Harris may just be the antidote that this country needs to bury these abuses of power in the graveyard of history.
* “Kings Co. DA pushes back on Becerra: stillbirth from meth exposure is murder,” by Alex Tavlian, SJS Sun, August 12, 2020
| Copyright © 2020 by William Silveira |
I find it amazing that in the 21st Century there is so little sense when faced with a failed pregnancy or birth, that a murder charge could be brought against a woman for a stillbirth!
ReplyDeleteNow had she taken a knitting needle to herself and deliberately aborted her foetus that’s different as that’s “with intent” but a stillbirth out of her control is nature at work- no matter the circumstances!
Maybe if men kept it in their pants or took responsibility when having sex and wore a condom these pregnancies wouldn’t happen!
It seems to me that although it takes two to tango it only takes a single sperm to make a baby so why then is the onus on the woman to prevent getting pregnant?
For too long men have shirked their responsibilities in “safe sex” and if that failed, in being a father and stepping up!
Hopefully things will change like it has in many other parts of the world, but I for one won’t hold my breath for the emancipation of America!
EMANCIPATION: That's what party goers in Los Angeles proclaim when attending huge parties without wearing masks. (I really doubt if many of them wash their hands after relieving themselves.) Put this group together with anti-vaxers and you can understand why thoughtful commentators are saying that the Covid-19 infection will be with us far off into the future. WS
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