Patel was sentenced to 20 years for feticide.
AB Wire
GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s absurd comments on ‘punishment for women who undergo abortions’ – which has received widespread condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats – may have a bearing on the appeal of an Indian American woman in Indiana who has been sentenced to 20 years after being found guilty of feticide and neglect of a dependent.
In July 2013, Purvi Patel, of Granger, Indiana, was about 25 weeks along in her pregnancy when she took abortion inducing pills. She placed the 20-inch long infant in a dumpster behind her parent’s restaurant and went to the emergency room, according to the NBC affiliate WNDU.
A jury found her guilty of feticide and neglect of a dependent resulting in death after experts testified the infant drew breath and claiming Patel failed to get the medical assistance.
Patel’s attorneys argue in the appeal that the prosecution relied on insufficient evidence.
Oral arguments are scheduled for May 23 before the Indiana Supreme Court for broadcasting purposes; the case remains at the appellate level.
The Chicago Tribune noted that even since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion that legalized many abortions, hundreds of American women have been arrested for things they’ve done or not done during pregnancy. In late 2014, officials with National Advocates for Pregnant Women said they had documented 793 such cases, including the arrest for “attempted fetal homicide” of a pregnant woman who fell down the stairs.
The report pointed out Patel’s case as well as that of Anna Yocca, a Tennessee woman facing charges of aggravated assault for trying to end her pregnancy with a coat-hanger abortion.
The report said: “Remember: Until further notice, pregnant women are frail, half out of their little minds and too vulnerable and unglued to know what they’re doing. We would never dream of holding them responsible for seeking abortions.”