woman arrested for harming unborn child.

This woman has clearly suffered enough having had a breakdown after the death of her daughter. She will probably live with feelings of guilt and remorse for the rest of her life.

The Americans are a bunch of right wing church going fruitcakes, well most seem to be. It isn't really surprising.

To clarify my post above, he was also charged with child destruction because the act he is accused of also killed the child (he has not yet been tried).

dittany: I don't think it's as simple as that. If two women were stabbed in the abdomen, and both recovered, would you expect to see the same charge laid (probably GBH or similar) for one - not pregnant and the other - pregnant at time of attack but the unborn baby had been killed as a result?

Thats a horrid story.

I am not really pro-abortion but I do think it is really unfair to say that having a medically managed abortion is just 'one step away' from overdosing on rat poison when pregnant.

There is an offence of Child Destruction in UK which applies to the unborn. The man charged with the recent murder of Nikkita Grender was also charged with this because he also killed her unborn child. It applies only to acts which are intended to cause death (so doesn't cover eg smoking, drinking and drug use in pregnancy as they would typically be carried out for other reasons).

I think it can be applied to abortions carried out outside the provisions of the abortion act, and could apply here to the one off ingestion of rat poison with the intent of destroying life (hers and the child). But it's complicated as suicide isn't an offence, and because the mother in this case has mental health issues. So I doubt it would result in a murder charge in UK.

But this woman does appear to need help, so a charge (with a diminished responsibility mitigation) might be a means to secure for her the help she needs.