Boycott Indiana—for Imprisoning a Woman Who Miscarried

[marmar]

(Truthdig) Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) has justifiably provoked outrage nationwide for its apparent intent to legalize anti-gay discrimination by private businesses.

But another controversial law that this week resulted in a draconian 20-year prison sentence for a woman named Purvi Patel has received far less attention. That law is a fetal homicide mandate under which Patel was charged and convicted earlier this year, alongside a charge of negligence. But Patel is being criminalized for likely having had a late-term miscarriage or stillbirth.

If this sounds utterly outrageous, it is exactly that. Some years ago I, like millions of women, suffered a miscarriage. Mine was an intentional pregnancy and the miscarriage occurred just a few weeks after conception. It was a bewildering and traumatic experience after which I wanted nothing more than to be left alone to recover.

In Patel’s case, the pregnancy was unintended and the miscarriage is estimated to have occurred at about 22 to 24 weeks of gestation. (While exact definitions vary, some doctors consider a miscarriage at 20 or more weeks to be a stillbirth, while others use 24 or even 28 weeks as the cutoff between miscarriage and stillbirth.) ................(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/boycott_indiana_-_for_imprisoning_a_woman_who_miscarried_20150402

[rhett o rick]

1. Indiana is hell. nm

[Enthusiast]

2. Sharia law in Indiana.

[Kalidurga]

3. I would move

I left Michigan when it was clear the state was going backwards on human rights. I think we should maybe do a GOFUNDME for people who want to leave states that are clearly going backwards and threatening their lives.

[KingCharlemagne]

7. A great suggestion! I know nothing about GoFundMe (other than what I have read here) and I don't

have much discretionary $$ lately (having been forced to take a 30% pay cut to get any job at all). But, FWIW, maybe some of the more well-heeled DUers could chip in. Since the trend recently has been away from taxpayer-funded reproductive services, perhaps this could be pitched as a voluntary self-imposed 'tax' to support women's reproductive freedom.

My wife and I have tentatively discussed, in the event of a Republican victory in 2016 and the ensuing reversal of Roe v. Wade, starting an Underground Railroad movement of sorts to help women relocate to states\regions where reproductive freedom still holds sway. We of course hope that the Republicans will crash and burn in 2016 but contingency planning never hurts. And this is too important an issue to wait until the fascists have tightened their grip on a one-party state.

[Kalidurga]

8. I started getting scared about this issue back in 2011 or so

Did a sketch on this in my theater class. I was the mother of a daughter that had to go out of state in an underground fashion (the underground grapevine) to help her get an abortion because they were illegal in the state we lived in.

[KingCharlemagne]

9. I was not scared in 2011 because I simply could not fathom the possibility

of a Romney victory. But 2016 is far scarier, imo, because I don't think Dems have a lock on the Presidency by any stretch of the imagination (even though logic and my heart both say they should). So I am moderately alarmed about 2016 and it's never too soon to start contingency planning for worst-case scenarios.

[WillyT]

4. K & R !!!

[daleanime]

5. K&R....

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

6. This is even more disturbing than not getting your wedding cake.

I gave $100 to her defense. Purvi Patel is our "Every Woman." She deserves our support.

[KingCharlemagne]

10. Thank you, on behalf of a DUer who is currently unable to pitch in. - nt

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

13. You are very welcome.

[Dems to Win]

11. Demand a pardon from Gov. Pence

http://in.gov/gov/2333.htm Contact link

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

Indiana is truly a hellish place where people call themselves Christian but exhibit no mercy or compassion. It hurts Gov. Pence's feelings to have Indianans badmouthed, so I will continue doing it until he signs her pardon.


(...I know there are DUers who live there and oppose all this, sorry to paint with a broad brush)

[handmade34]

12. thank you for posting...

http://action.rhrealitycheck.org/page/s/condemning-indiana

we must fight back against the people trying to restrict and outlaw abortion