Your OB can get you jailed for a miscarriage and there is not much you can do about it | Dr. Jen Gunter

[Fred Sanders]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6442782

https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/your-ob-can-get-you-jailed-for-a-miscarriage-and-theres-not-much-you-can-do-about-it/

35 States with variously named and worded 'feticide' laws like Indiana

March 30, 2015

"Ms. Purvi Patel was sentenced today in Indiana for having a premature delivery that ended in stillbirth. She was given 20 years in jail, 10 years suspended, and 5 years probation for neglect and 6 years for the feticide conviction that will run concurrently.

For those unfamiliar with the case Ms. Patel received no prenatal care and was an unknown gestational age when she delivered at home. She thought she had delivered very prematurely and that the baby was stillborn. Not knowing what to do, ill from bleeding, and psychologically affected from delivering unassisted in her bathroom she deposited what she thought was a pre-viable stillbirth in the trash.

Ms. Patel continued bleeding and so sought care at the hospital and what happened next should frighten everyone. After determining she had been pregnant the medical staff called the police and one of the OB/GYNs, Dr. McGuire, abandoned her to search with the police. Because that’s what doctors do, leave patients and play junior CSI. When the body was found Dr. McGuire told the officers he believed the fetus was 30 weeks, even though he had no qualification to make that determination. These actions starting the ball rolling as a potential homicide."

..............

Religious-based State "Fetal Harm Laws"

"Fetal harm laws, originally intended for violence against pregnant women, have allowed pro-life medical vigilantes to turn normal obstetrical events into crimes. Personally, I believe encroachment on abortion was always part of the agenda because once a law is on the books it’s really open to interpretation. The added bonus of doctors, nurses, and social workers “policing” hospitals for cases eager to testify against their patients gives a suggestion to the public, police, and prosecutors that this is medically valid and not what it actually is – doctor assisted criminalization of pregnancy. It is madness. It is a corruption of the legal system. It is a stain on the practice of OB/GYN."

'Big Bother is Watching You'

"So it really comes down to this – if you miscarry don’t accidentally flush the toilet or pass out from shock or blood loss call the police. Big Brother is watching you with a most dispassionate eye, most especially when you are bleeding on your bathroom floor or in the hospital and there is a Ministry of Information to handle little details like your dates or what you may have done or thought.

Choose your hospitals and health care providers wisely and even then be very, very careful about what you tell them."

[hifiguy]

1. There is SO much that is SO wrong with this horrid story that

I don't even know where to begin.

[salin]

2. this is insanity

speechless.

[City Lights]

3. Outrageous!

[Trillo]

4. What is it about medicine that attracts authoritarians?

Just wondering.

[jeff47]

5. Hey now, these laws were a good bipartisan compromise!

Everyone likes babies! And people attacking pregnant women are scary! So everyone lined up and compromised and voted for the legislation the right wing wanted.

Who could have predicted it would turn out to hurt women?! I mean, there was this vague high-pitched speaking-like sound when the law was being discussed, but we were busy compromising so we'd look good on Meet the Press to pay attention to it.

[niyad]

6. thank the goddess I am past childbearing age.

[LeftyMom]

7. I remember explaining on DU about these fetal harm laws danger

and being told that feminists and women's health advocates were worrying about nothing, that this couldn't possibly happen.

Being right about terrible shit gets tiring. :/