A pence lie I've not seen called out directly
Another thing Mike Pence lied about last night that I haven’t yet seen called out: His contention that he would never seek to punish a woman for seeking or having an abortion.
That is another flat-out lie. Because the Indiana government under Pence’s administration (and under that of his predecessor crony, equally right-wing Daniels) has already done so. They have used their law against “feticide” to throw women in prison.
Now, Pence and his theocratic cronies are evil, not stupid. Their strategy in this particular wedge is really quite brilliant. If the state doesn’t already have a feticide law…. First, they seize on some terrible crime where, say, a pregnant woman is shot; she survives, her fetus does not. They publicize the incident broadly, and after whipping up (perfectly legitimate) outrage, propose their solution: make feticide a separate crime. Oh, no, of course such a law would never be enforced against women having abortions. Or miscarriages. And they get the law passed, usually with broad bipartisan support.
But now here’s the really genius part. Picking the right cases to prosecute.
I know of two cases in Indiana where pregnant women have been punished under their feticide law. One was the case of a pregnant woman who attempted suicide; she survived, but her child did not, and she was charged with feticide and murder. She eventually accepted a plea bargain, and was sentenced to time served (435 days). The second case was a woman from a very conservative family who was terrified they’d find out she was pregnant. So instead of trying to find a clinic where she could have a legal abortion, she sent off on the internet for drugs to self-induce one. Which is, of course, illegal, partly because of what happened to this young woman-she started hemorrhaging so badly she’d lost a fifth of her blood volume by the time she sought treatment at the local hospital. Where, of course, she was arrested. She fought the case in court, and was prosecuted for both feticide and for causing the death of a living baby. Inconsistent charges, note. But the prosecutor brought forth rather shaky evidence that the child had been born alive (according to a test considered reliable 100 years ago, but not today) and claimed that neglect had caused its death, while simultaneously arguing that she had killed the fetus in utero. And he got conviction on both counts. She was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. (Eventually reduced on appeal to eighteen months served.)
But here’s the kicker: both two women were poor, obviously. And non-white. One was an immigrant (Shuai), the other an Indian American (Patel). In a state that has an 86% white population (I just checked the latest stats).
So look at the strategy: pass the law, assuring everyone that no, of course it would never be used to punish a woman for having an abortion. The very thought! No, this law merely gives us better tools to punish criminals so depraved as to attack pregnant women, and who could be against that?
Then wait until there’s a case of self-induced abortion or a miscarriage following a woman’s criminal or unwise conduct. But don’t pick the first one you find. The LAST thing you want to do is go before a jury with a defendant who looks like everyone’s favorite teenage niece. Who may have done something stupid and yeah, technically illegal, but she could have had the same thing done perfectly legally if she hadn’t been scared out of her wits and not thinking straight. Or had had the money and help to find an (increasingly rare) clinic.
No. Wait until you find a case where the woman can easily be portrayed unsympathetically to a jury. Like being non-white, and even better, an immigrant or child of immigrants, in front of what’s likely to be a lily-white and nativist jury. (Indiana’s projected to go Trump by a double-digit lead.) A woman your jury would be happy to call a baby-killer. And a woman who’s poor enough to likely have poor legal representation, or who can be cowed into plea-bargaining.
A nice case you can win.
And now you’ve got your legal precedent.
A pregnant woman who has an illegal abortion can be sent to prison for twenty years.
And Mikey-boy wants to make them all illegal.
That is another flat-out lie. Because the Indiana government under Pence’s administration (and under that of his predecessor crony, equally right-wing Daniels) has already done so. They have used their law against “feticide” to throw women in prison.
Now, Pence and his theocratic cronies are evil, not stupid. Their strategy in this particular wedge is really quite brilliant. If the state doesn’t already have a feticide law…. First, they seize on some terrible crime where, say, a pregnant woman is shot; she survives, her fetus does not. They publicize the incident broadly, and after whipping up (perfectly legitimate) outrage, propose their solution: make feticide a separate crime. Oh, no, of course such a law would never be enforced against women having abortions. Or miscarriages. And they get the law passed, usually with broad bipartisan support.
But now here’s the really genius part. Picking the right cases to prosecute.
I know of two cases in Indiana where pregnant women have been punished under their feticide law. One was the case of a pregnant woman who attempted suicide; she survived, but her child did not, and she was charged with feticide and murder. She eventually accepted a plea bargain, and was sentenced to time served (435 days). The second case was a woman from a very conservative family who was terrified they’d find out she was pregnant. So instead of trying to find a clinic where she could have a legal abortion, she sent off on the internet for drugs to self-induce one. Which is, of course, illegal, partly because of what happened to this young woman-she started hemorrhaging so badly she’d lost a fifth of her blood volume by the time she sought treatment at the local hospital. Where, of course, she was arrested. She fought the case in court, and was prosecuted for both feticide and for causing the death of a living baby. Inconsistent charges, note. But the prosecutor brought forth rather shaky evidence that the child had been born alive (according to a test considered reliable 100 years ago, but not today) and claimed that neglect had caused its death, while simultaneously arguing that she had killed the fetus in utero. And he got conviction on both counts. She was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. (Eventually reduced on appeal to eighteen months served.)
But here’s the kicker: both two women were poor, obviously. And non-white. One was an immigrant (Shuai), the other an Indian American (Patel). In a state that has an 86% white population (I just checked the latest stats).
So look at the strategy: pass the law, assuring everyone that no, of course it would never be used to punish a woman for having an abortion. The very thought! No, this law merely gives us better tools to punish criminals so depraved as to attack pregnant women, and who could be against that?
Then wait until there’s a case of self-induced abortion or a miscarriage following a woman’s criminal or unwise conduct. But don’t pick the first one you find. The LAST thing you want to do is go before a jury with a defendant who looks like everyone’s favorite teenage niece. Who may have done something stupid and yeah, technically illegal, but she could have had the same thing done perfectly legally if she hadn’t been scared out of her wits and not thinking straight. Or had had the money and help to find an (increasingly rare) clinic.
No. Wait until you find a case where the woman can easily be portrayed unsympathetically to a jury. Like being non-white, and even better, an immigrant or child of immigrants, in front of what’s likely to be a lily-white and nativist jury. (Indiana’s projected to go Trump by a double-digit lead.) A woman your jury would be happy to call a baby-killer. And a woman who’s poor enough to likely have poor legal representation, or who can be cowed into plea-bargaining.
A nice case you can win.
And now you’ve got your legal precedent.
A pregnant woman who has an illegal abortion can be sent to prison for twenty years.
And Mikey-boy wants to make them all illegal.