Re: Man Convicted for Tricking Girlfriend to Take Abortion Pills
I rarely post in this forum but this is the kind of thing that makes me deeply uncomfortable. I support the status quo on abortion and oppose efforts to restrict access to the procedures. However I think consistency is incredibly important. Life is life... or it isn't. I could see a justification for an assault charge but I'm completely opposed to the notion that a man should go to prison for 13 years for something if done voluntarily wouldn't have been a crime at all. Thoughts?
Man tricks pregnant girlfriend into taking abortion pill - CNN.com
I agree with you. But let's look at how minor the charges for what he did to the woman are.
He not only dosed her with a very strong pharmaceutical causing her to lose a wanted pregnancy, but he did so improperly, putting her at high risk of complication. Why is there no grievous bodily harm charge? Simple assault? That's it? Really? The same charge he would have gotten if he'd just threatened to smack her?
And therein lies the thing that is truly twisted about this case.
There is a REASON they pushed for a murder conviction, despite the fact that killing a ZEF oneself carries no charge. It was an attempt to politicize this case, and if he was found guilty, it would cause his conviction to conflict with the current classification of a ZEF as defined by Row, which sets the stage for a court challenge.
Basically, the prosecution was just using this woman as a tool to get some licks in on the abortion debate.
And they cared so little about her that they couldn't even be bothered to attach a serious charge to the harm that he did to her. Just some little nothing-charge that doesn't carry any significant time. Charging him for what he did to her was almost an afterthought. They were too busy thinking about the embryo.
Which means they were pushing for one of two results from this case: creating yet another anti-choice state, or just letting the guy go with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
That is what is really disturbing about this case.
The entire set-up of the case completely rejects the idea that the woman herself was violated significantly and deserved justice. It places her as nothing but a vehicle for debating the man's will vs. the embryo's right or lack of to occupy a woman's body, and that's all. The set-up of the case showed that the prosecution cared so little for this woman's rights and agency and integrity that they would rather use her as a political tool and risk the guy just getting out scott free, because they cared not even the tiniest bit about getting justice for
her.