If the Governor of Tennessee signs this bill into law, miscarriage will count as murder.
At The New Yorker, Anna Holmes on “Girls.”
In California, there’s been progress on a new bill that would protect patients from predatory and harmful “ex-gay therapists.”
2 Comments
I was shocked when I saw the miscarriage headline/ read the linked article, so I did some research and just wanted to clarify the bill. Pursuant to it, miscarriage is only considered murder if you commit a criminal act with the requisite mental state (ie malice aforethought) against a woman who is pregnant, leading to a miscarriage. Thus, this only applies to criminal third parties.
The legal status of properly performed medical abortion is in no way affected by the bill (as it expressly states.) Furthermore, a woman who has a miscarriage will not be charged with homicide:
“(c) Nothing in subsection (a) shall apply to any act or omission by a pregnant
woman with respect to an embryo or fetus with which she is pregnant, or to any lawful
medical or surgical procedure to which a pregnant woman consents, performed by a
health care professional who is licensed to perform such procedure. ”
So while the headline as posted makes the bill appear extremely anti-women, the bill is focused on increasing penalties for criminals who intentionally or with depraved recklessness injure a pregnant woman, causing a miscarriage.
so long story short the headline could read “If the Governor of Tennessee signs this bill into law, committing a criminal act against a woman which causes her to suffer a miscarriage will be deemed homicide.”