Alabama woman loses unborn child after being shot, gets arrested; shooter goes free

[EweSurname]

www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/06/woman-indicted-in-shooting-death-of-her-unborn-child-charges-against-shooter-dismissed.html

“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid said at the time of the shooting. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”

[...]"Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here,’’ Reid said. “She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection."

Wtf?

Straight out of Handmaid's Tale

The BBC had film of a newborn being rescued from a plastic bag where she had been dumped.
Things are desperately wrong in Alabama!

Christ almighty. So being feisty in possession of a foetus is now illegal? Ffs.

Jesus wept. We're going backwards. This is insane.

I truly despair.

Safest to put us all into comas at about 6 weeks. Then we really will have to behave ourselves

Actually just before conception would be safest..

That is actually very disturbing.

WTAF - this is getting more and more handmaids tale as we speak. How is it that the shooter and the ridiculous gun laws are dismissed but the victim has been arrested? I'm beyond speechless.

This is like living in a nightmare. Imprisoned constantly in your own fertile female body and constantly being watched and policed constantly because you have that fertile female body. No such constraints on men at all.

Fucking hell

I can't believe I just read that! But then again, this is Alabama, the state where a female signed off on a draconian anti abortion law. Difficult to believe this is happening in the so called land of the free. Madness.

Starting a fight isn't 'being feisty'. It's most likely assault.
Obviously this is all backwards and wrong but there's no reason she should have started something physical, it's utterly stupid and reckless. Surely protecting your child should be instinct.
No way she should've been shot, most definitely. But it is true that due to stupidity and selfishness of all of the adults involved, the baby is gone.
The person that shot her belongs in prison of course

I knew she'd be black before I even clicked on the story.

Can we troll Danny Reid ?

This is nightmareish. A dystopia for women.

America often strikes me as a barbaric country, what with the crime, the racism, the guns, the healthcare system, the level of inequality and the misogyny.

Sux2buthen why wasn't she convicted of assault then?

And as the article mentions, where does the line get drawn of what "responsibility" women have towards their foetus when they're pregnant. If you don't take folic acid and the baby has spina bifida and dies is that a manslaughter charge?

I have no idea why she wasn't. The details are, possibly deliberately, very vague.
No obviously not. Assaulting a person or starting a fight is different than taking a vitamin. Any idiot can see that.

America is turning into a weird dystopian country.

They’ll be pointing at cars next!

I know that in reality most Americans are as normal as the rest of us but some stories you read.......

Christ almighty. So being feisty in possession of a foetus is now illegal? Ffs

No, it's not that.

Person A started a fight. Person B defended themselves, and in doing so injured Person A. Person A is found guilty of an offence, because they were the assailant. Person B's actions were scrutinised, but were ruled to be self defence , which is permitted by law as long as it is proportionate.

So this isn't about being 'feisty' it's about an assailant picking a victim who fights back and whi harms than. The sex of Person A and Person B is irrelevant in law and quite rightly so.

And yes, it is a tragedy is that an unborn baby was killed in this manner. But if you do not want a baby to have 'personhood' you may well not see the fact if death as a tragedy, though you might agree the manner if deplorable.

Is that actually real? I find it hard to believe. And what exactly was the issue? Engaging in the altercation or not seeking medical attention for her foetus? All a bit hard to believe.

Sux2buthen not necessarily. If a woman isn't taking steps to prevent harm coming to her foetus then that is causing harm to the foetus - that's the logic underpinning the conviction.

Steps to take to prevent harm coming to the foetus would include e.g. taking folic acid, going to antenatal appointment, not smoking/drinking, not getting into fights, not taking part in dangerous sports like skiing or horseriding.

You're just making a moral judgement about a woman who attacked someone. Which, yeah, that's wrong. But her status as pregnant or not shouldn't come into it, otherwise that's unfairly policing women's behaviour.

Of course her pregnancy status comes into it. And not taking folic acid isn't a crime. Starting fights or altercations (can't remember the phrasing used) is a crime.
Not forgetting of course, the person that shot her and caused her baby's death should obviously be prosecuted too

there's no reason she should have started something physical, it's utterly stupid and reckless.
There's no law against being stupid or reckless. It's the actions that are illegal e.g. drink driving - reckless and illegal.

Picking a fight - not really illegal. But then hitting someone - that's assault.

This lady was shot in the stomach. That wasn't found to be breaking the law but she didn't dodge the bullet and therefore broke the law.

Strikes me as the perfect excuse for abusers of all kinds.