Pregnant Iowa woman arrested for falling down.

[RandySF]

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.

The District Attorney -- after three weeks of investigation -- eventually declined to prosecute Taylor. Before you get too happy, keep in mind that this decision was made, not because the arrest was travesty to begin with, but because it came to light that Taylor was late in her second trimester when she fell, not early in her third as the hospital staff had thought. I guess you are allowed to trip and fall in the first two-thirds of your pregnancy in Iowa, but do so in your last third and the long arm of the law will grab you by your swollen ankles.

http://www.tvally.com/showthread.php?12033-Pregnant-Iowa-Woman-Arrested-for-Falling-Down

[Tikki]

1. Maybe the nurse or doctor could come over to Christine's home...

and help out a bit with chores or run errands for her and watch the other children for a bit so she can get some rest.


Tikki
probably never crossed their minds.

[iwishiwas]

2. What is america becoming when something like happens!!

[terip64]

3. Kick

[Lisa0825]

4. We only exist to be carriers for our wombs. Other than that we're worthless. nt

[keroro gunsou]

11. that's not entirely true

but there are many that would make it so if they had their way... and that's sad.

[Evolve_Already]

13. Spot on Lisa!

One minor change necessitates.

Your comment is what DOODS think about women. Ok, one MAJOR change.

[Mad_Dem_X]

14. Unfortunately, many people think that way.

A woman stops being a human being once she becomes pregnant.

[Critters2]

5. Can you cite a primary source for this story--a local newspaper or something?

I'd like to know where this happened. The source you cite should have given more information.

[niyad]

7. it did, if you looked at the story

[csziggy]

8. Following the links back apparently the story is no longer available at the source

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100210/NEWS/2100367/-I-never-said-I-didn-t-want-my-baby--Mom-won-t-be-prosecuted

Is the original story from which the first of two blogs that discussed it got the story. But if you go to that link, the Des Moines Register does not have it available.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6255683-504083.html is a live link, but they also link back to the same place, though a different link: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102100367

Interestingly, my Google search got this comment at the bottom of the page:

In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at ChillingEffects.org.

That link takes me to this page: http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1161

[niyad]

6. although this happened a year ago, it is still horrifying, and probably not the last such story we

will be hearing. the reichwing woman-haters are in full battle mode now, determined to remove all autonomy and choice from their chattel, er, the vessels, ooops, the brood mares--the women
1.
02-18-2010 08:57 PM #1

3

Default Pregnant Iowa Woman Arrested for Falling Down

[elias7]

9. Before you all judge too harshly,

This is exactly how some cases of child abuse are picked up in the ED. Red flags are raised and nurses and docs would be negligent not to act on them. I suspect there is more to the story than what we are being told.

[niyad]

10. what we are judging is the woman-hating cretins who have decided that women have NO RIGHT to control

their own bodies

[CreekDog]

12. this was a pregnant woman

and they weren't deciding whether she needed to see a counselor, they were arresting her and deciding whether to send her to prison for some length of time for something she thought.

please don't defend this kind of behavior.

[rgbecker]

15. The only appropriate response would be to de fund Planned Parenthood.

:sarcasm: