Pregnant Iowa Woman Arrested for Falling Down
By ROXANN MTJOY - CHANGE.ORG
Added: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 UTC
Thanks to InYourFaceNewYorker for the link.
Original link
This is an actual case in Iowa - they already passed a law similar to the Utah legislation - posted here http://richarddawkins.net/articles/5163
Life can't get much worse for Christine Taylor. Last month, after an upsetting phone conversation with her estranged husband, Ms. Taylor became light-headed and fell down a flight of stairs in her home. Paramedics rushed to the scene and ultimately declared her healthy. However, since she was pregnant with her third child at the time, Taylor thought it would be best to be seen at the local ER to make sure her fetus was unharmed.
That's when things got really bad and really crazy. Alone, distraught, and frightened, Taylor confided in the nurse treating her that she hadn't always been sure she'd wanted this baby, now that she was single and unemployed. She'd considered both adoption and abortion before ultimately deciding to keep the child. The nurse then summoned a doctor, who questioned her further about her thoughts on ending the pregnancy. Next thing Taylor knew, she was being arrested for attempted feticide. Apparently the nurse and doctor thought that Taylor threw herself down the stairs on purpose.
According to Iowa state law, attempted feticide is an trying "to intentionally terminate a human pregnancy, with the knowledge and voluntary consent of the pregnant person, after the end of the second trimester of the pregnancy." At least 37 states have similar laws. Taylor spent two days in jail before being released. That's right, a pregnant woman was jailed for admitting to thinking about an abortion at some point early in her pregnancy and then having the audacity to fall down some stairs a couple of months later. Please tell me you find this as horrifying as I do.
...
Continue reading
Tweet
RELATED CONTENT
Canadian imams issue fatwa against...
Ron Csillag - The Washington Post 28 Comments
Muslim clerics in Canada have issued a fatwa against so-called “honor killings” a week after three members of an Afghan family in Montreal were convicted of the murders of four relatives.
The faithful must learn to respect...
Lawrence Krauss - The Guardian 36 Comments
Tensions between religion and science will persist unless believers recognise that skepticism is a hallmark of science
Dawkins made it to my Sociology class
Omer Kamal Bin Farooq - The Express... 16 Comments
[That documentary] llows us to think out of the comfortable narrative that has been concocted for us by the state and its right-wing allies. Watching it allows us to digest opinions wildly diverse from ours and still give them their due consideration and appreciation. This is what made me happy.
Julian Baggini - FT.com 34 Comments
Godlessness is the last big taboo in the US, where non-believers face discrimination and isolation
Ed Brayton - Dispatches from the... 5 Comments

MLK Jr. on Prayer in Schools




















Comments
Comment RSS Feed
Please sign in or register to comment
View Comments Page