Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
In a surprise decision, an Indiana court overturned the first ever feticide conviction in the country July 22, that would have sent an Indian-American woman to prison for 20 years.
Purvi Patel was convicted in 2015 after being found guilty of neglect of a dependent and for using drugs to induce an abortion that killed her newborn. It became a national case that united women’s groups and civil rights groups around the country who demanded Patel be freed for exercising her right to abort.
They also contended that the Indiana laws against feticide were promulgated to save women from sexual assault and violent rapes and did not apply in Patel’s case.
The Appeals Court of Indiana agreed with this interpretation July 22, and ordered a resentencing of Patel on the lesser charge – the Class D felony neglect of a dependent, which carries a jail time of between 6 months to three years. During the hearing May 23, several women’s groups testified before the Appeals Court and national rights groups like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union submitted amicus briefs supporting Patel. Neither Planned Parenthood nor ACLU returned calls by press time.
“WORST CHARGES HAVE BEEN VACATED!” Judge orders resentencing for #PurviPatel on lesser charge. #FreePurvi,” declared the Facebook page “Justice For Purvi Patel” which began getting messages discussing ruling soon after it was passed.
“That’s not right. This woman is still being punished,” said a woman named Vandana Prasad.
“A step in the right direction but the other charge should be dropped,” said a man named Larry Saltzman.
“What?! As long as any charges remain an injustice is being done,” said Cynthia Uesoto.
“This should have never happened anywhere…,” said Pauline Procopy.
Back on May 25, after the appeal was heard, a woman named Beverley Carey said, “It’s shocking, countries with fuzzy human rights should not be preaching to other countries. This is not what makes a country great, it’s despicable.”
Patel’s ordeal began in 2013 when she was 32. An affair with a co-worker at the restaurant owned by her parents in Granger, Indiana, led to the pregnancy, according to news reports.
In July of that year, Patel delivered a fetus in the privacy of her home, and fearing the consequences, put the body in a dumpster.
When she went to hospital to be treated for excessive bleeding, the hospital staff alerted police, and they found the body. Prosecutors charged her with feticide on grounds that the abortion drugs Patel took had resulted in the death.
There was also controversy surrounding the medical examiner’s report which contended that the baby did take a breath after being aborted, a finding refuted by activists and attorneys as based on arcane science and methodology.
The Appeals Court in its July 22 ruling, also held that the Indiana Legislature, “intended for any criminal liability to be imposed on medical personnel, not women who perform their own abortions,” the Associated Press reported.
The post Indiana Appeals Court Overturns Conviction Of Purvi Patel appeared first on News India Times.
