Purvi Patel was arrested in 2013 after it was discovered that at 24 weeks pregnant, she prematurely gave birth at home and discarded the thought-to-be stillborn fetus in a dumpster. Patel then headed to the hospital to treat her heavy bleeding, where a doctor discovered an umbilical cord. The police were immediately called and questioned Patel on the spot.
The issue was then whether or not Patel abandoned a living baby. Maintaining her innocence, Patel told law enforcement officials, "I assumed because the baby was dead there was nothing to do. I've never been in this situation. I've never been pregnant before."
However, at the court hearing on Monday, the state of Indiana found Patel guilty for more than one charge. At court, prosecutors presented phone record evidence that suggested the 33-year-old took abortion-inducing drugs to terminate her pregnancy. While toxicologists did not find any traces of the drug in her or the fetus' body, the jury was convinced that Patel committed feticide.
Additionally, prosecutors argued that Patel was up to 30 weeks pregnant at the time of the incident, not 24. This means the baby would have been born alive and thus, Patel is also guilty of neglect.
By the end of the hearing, Patel received a 30-year sentence for child neglect, 10 of which were suspended, and a six-year sentence for feticide, which will be served concurrently. The 33-year-old will also spend five years on probation when she is finally released.
Patel is the first woman in the U.S. to be convicted of feticide. Since the trial, her case has sparked outrage among reproductive rights activists.
"What this conviction means is that anti-abortion laws will be used to punish pregnant woman," said Lynn Paltrow, Executive Director for National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
Deepa Iyer, an activist at the University of Maryland's Asian American Studies Program, agreed saying: "Purvi Patel's conviction amounts to punishment for having a miscarriage and then seeking medical care, something that no woman should worry would lead to jail time."
Indiana's feticide law was originally created as enforcement against illegal abortion providers, not to be used against pregnant women themselves. Additionally, at least 37 other states in the U.S. have some sort of fetal homicide law to protect expectant mothers. However, more often than not, the women who suffer miscarriages from falling down or using drugs are being charged instead. Patel's case has now brought the issues of broad feticide laws to light.
According to Sue Ellen Braunlin, the co-president of the Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Justice, people were disturbed by Patel's unperturbed reaction to her miscarriage, as well as by the fact that she threw her stillborn child in a dumpster. Because Patel's reactions did not fit the profile of a grieving mother, she was deemed a bad parent and all other evidence was thrown out the window.
Patel's defense is now expected to file an appeal, as many flaws are still found in her case, such as police interrogating her while she was recovering from sedation and the unscientific method used to determine how far along Patel was in her pregnancy.
Original Article
Source: parentdish.ca/
Author: Isabelle Khoo
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