pregnant iowa women: watch your step (or be arrested)

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
http://news.change.org/stories/pregnant-iowa-woman-arrested-for-falling-down

Life can't get much worse for Christine Taylor. Last month, after an upsetting phone conversation with her estranged husband, Ms. Taylor became light-headed and fell down a flight of stairs in her home. Paramedics rushed to the scene and ultimately declared her healthy. However, since she was pregnant with her third child at the time, Taylor thought it would be best to be seen at the local ER to make sure her fetus was unharmed. That's when things got really bad and really crazy. Alone, distraught, and frightened, Taylor confided in the nurse treating her that she hadn't always been sure she'd wanted this baby, now that she was single and unemployed. She'd considered both adoption and abortion before ultimately deciding to keep the child. The nurse then summoned a doctor, who questioned her further about her thoughts on ending the pregnancy. Next thing Taylor knew, she was being arrested for attempted feticide. Apparently the nurse and doctor thought that Taylor threw herself down the stairs on purpose.

According to Iowa state law, attempted feticide is an trying "to intentionally terminate a human pregnancy, with the knowledge and voluntary consent of the pregnant person, after the end of the second trimester of the pregnancy." At least 37 states have similar laws. Taylor spent two days in jail before being released. That's right, a pregnant woman was jailed for admitting to thinking about an abortion at some point early in her pregnancy and then having the audacity to fall down some stairs a couple of months later. Please tell me you find this as horrifying as I do.

The District Attorney -- after three weeks of investigation -- eventually declined to prosecute Taylor. Before you get too happy, keep in mind that this decision was made, not because the arrest was travesty to begin with, but because it came to light that Taylor was late in her second trimester when she fell, not early in her third as the hospital staff had thought. I guess you are allowed to trip and fall in the first two-thirds of your pregnancy in Iowa, but do so in your last third and the long arm of the law will grab you by your swollen ankles.

Of all the horrible, shocking elements to this case, perhaps one of the worst is the breach of confidentiality on the part of the hospital staff. Christine Taylor came to them emotionally vulnerable in order to seek help for her unborn child. She thought she was in a safe place talking to professionals in whom she could confide. Oops, her bad. As Robert Rigg, professor at the Drake University Law School, said, "How in the heck did the police get a statement made by a patient to a medical person during the course of treatment?

Sadly, this is already the second time this year I've written about an innocent pregnant woman held against her will. What is wrong with people that they think that this is okay? Christine Taylor sure doesn't know. This ordeal has turned her life upside and made finding a job that much harder. I guess we've all learned a valuable lesson: when pregnant, you should always act ridiculously happy about it, regardless of circumstances. And, for heaven's sake, don't dare fall down.
ridiculous, eh?

i have stopped even trying to talk to the anti-choice crowd on a reasonable level, and instead ask them how they would enforce their "morality" upon society.

this is a perfect example of the consequences of their stance.

for example, if someone had an abortion, who would you prosecute? the mother? the doctor? what type of punishment?
wouldn't you have to put laws in place that protect the fetus by limiting what the mother may do? should pregnant women be allowed to use stairs, or must they be restricted to escalators?

should they be allowed to walk down the street? or, since that would carry with it the risk of tripping and falling, should they be banned from walking?

what if they had a miscarriage? should they be prosecuted?

what if they did not know they were pregnant when they tripped and fell? should women everywhere be forced to submit to regular pregnancy tests to assure whether or not they are pregnant?

you tell me.
 

Ernst

Well-Known Member
We are insane.

We can blow up children and we apologize then blow some more people up later and a woman seeking healthcare discovers doctors and nurses are now detectives and law enforcement officers so she gets to do some time.

Perhaps we need to put pregnant female in pens where we can watch them closer? God knows they might drink alcohol or smoke tobacco if we don't.

I am mocking the law not suggesting we actually turn our woman into breeding cattle.
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
Perhaps we need to put pregnant female in pens where we can watch them closer? God knows they might drink alcohol or smoke tobacco if we don't.
you may be mocking our laws, but you are not far off.

apparently in texas, victims of rape will now be required to get a sonogram, see the image, listen to a verbal description, and hear the heartbeat of their fetus.

i thought you republicans wanted less government interference, not more. i wonder what the fuck they put in the water down thar in tejas.

http://www.texasobserver.org/component/k2/item/17513-after-7-hours-texas-house-passes-strict-sonogram-bill

this is why i end up voting democrat even though they suck so bad. elections have practical (or in this case, impractical) consequences.

seriously, texas republicans just spent their time making sure rape victims have to endure all this at the most horrific time possible. way to create jobs in the 'forcing rape victims to relive their ordeal' sector.

FUCK THIS.
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
http://news.change.org/stories/pregnant-iowa-woman-arrested-for-falling-down



ridiculous, eh?

i have stopped even trying to talk to the anti-choice crowd on a reasonable level, and instead ask them how they would enforce their "morality" upon society.

this is a perfect example of the consequences of their stance.

for example, if someone had an abortion, who would you prosecute? the mother? the doctor? what type of punishment?
wouldn't you have to put laws in place that protect the fetus by limiting what the mother may do? should pregnant women be allowed to use stairs, or must they be restricted to escalators?

should they be allowed to walk down the street? or, since that would carry with it the risk of tripping and falling, should they be banned from walking?

what if they had a miscarriage? should they be prosecuted?

what if they did not know they were pregnant when they tripped and fell? should women everywhere be forced to submit to regular pregnancy tests to assure whether or not they are pregnant?

you tell me.
This is outrageous to say the least. I'm afraid our overly litigious society is at least partially to blame though. Hospital workers are required by law to report certain observations. For example, some hospitals are asking ALL women if they've ever been domestically abused even if they come in for a hangnail! My mom got reported for child abuse because of all the visits to the E.R. due to my clumsy younger brother. This is definitely over the top though.:sad:

The bright point is she'll probably get a settlement out of the deal. :-P
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
This is outrageous to say the least. I'm afraid our overly litigious society is at least partially to blame though. Hospital workers are required by law to report certain observations. For example, some hospitals are asking ALL women if they've ever been domestically abused even if they come in for a hangnail! My mom got reported for child abuse because of all the visits to the E.R. due to my clumsy younger brother. This is definitely over the top though.:sad:

The bright point is she'll probably get a settlement out of the deal. :-P
an overly litigious society would have no effect on this matter if not for the shitty law existing in the first place.

these laws treat women like they are dumb. plainly misogynistic, by any measure.

ditto for the recently passed texas law...treats women like they are dumb and not to be trusted.

i thought subjugating women was out of style. i guess not.
 

angelsbandit

Well-Known Member
And if in fact she had taken a fall to end the pregnancy you same folks would bitch that the government did not stop her.
 

mellokitty

Moderatrix of Journals
*gak* *coffee in nasal passage - owie*
don't they know you can't see your goddamned FEET in the 3rd tri? i challenged my man to walk in a straight line whilst trying to see over a pillow, he couldn't do it. gee... i wonder why preggos fall down? i didn't fall down any stairs, but that extra 20 - 80 lb makes for a terrific thump, letmetellya.

to borrow from margaret cho: if a lot of the anti-choicers are also the folks who refuse ambulances and blood transfusions, doesn't that just make them major procrastinators?

and the phrase 'forcible rape' makes me want to vomit now. THAT is what the legislators of your country do to all of it's female residents.
 

Carne Seca

Well-Known Member
you may be mocking our laws, but you are not far off.

apparently in texas, victims of rape will now be required to get a sonogram, see the image, listen to a verbal description, and hear the heartbeat of their fetus.

i thought you republicans wanted less government interference, not more. i wonder what the fuck they put in the water down thar in tejas.

http://www.texasobserver.org/component/k2/item/17513-after-7-hours-texas-house-passes-strict-sonogram-bill

this is why i end up voting democrat even though they suck so bad. elections have practical (or in this case, impractical) consequences.

seriously, texas republicans just spent their time making sure rape victims have to endure all this at the most horrific time possible. way to create jobs in the 'forcing rape victims to relive their ordeal' sector.

FUCK THIS.
So much for smaller government. :roll:
 

stumps

Well-Known Member
I can never bring myself to vote democrat. But they need to make a party for us non god fearing types.
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
an overly litigious society would have no effect on this matter if not for the shitty law existing in the first place.

these laws treat women like they are dumb. plainly misogynistic, by any measure.

ditto for the recently passed texas law...treats women like they are dumb and not to be trusted.

i thought subjugating women was out of style. i guess not.
Being overly litigious IS part of the problem though Buck. Hospitals are scared to death to get sued. If a hospital employee sneezes wrong, there's a good bet somebody is gonna sue the hospital and possibly the employee who did the sneezing. I agree 100% that this law is absurd. I agree 100% that the hospital overstepped its bounds. E.R. personnel have a tough job and we don't even know exactly how this woman presented or what she said to the E.R. staff that made them alert the authorities about her, ahem, "attempted feticide." We have to ask ourselves "Why was this law passed in the first place?" if we are to understand where the problem trully lies. I'm betting that there was a spate of women hurling themselves down stairs or something. Of course the public demands action and lawmakers gladly oblige. I'm guessing this law was rather new? This isn't a republican, democrat problem Buck. I'm not sure where we went wrong and why we see the need to keep making senseless laws, but I'm betting that these lawmakers have to justify their existence and their salaries lest they lose their cushy government jobs. :roll:
 

ikmy

Member
It was sarcasm man… anyone that doesn’t believe in the sanctity of human life be it born or unborn is just as inhumane as the Nazis…the most intolerant, narrow-minded, insular people of the 21st century call themselves liberals!!!! (Democrats)

The irony and incongruity is, they think and claim to be tolerant…

You really should get some sleep man, I think you’re over tired!!!

May I ask you a personal question doc?

As a child, did you torture or cause pain to small animals?

I think you must have, its never too late to seek help ! The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"-Edmund
 

Ernst

Well-Known Member
Ikmy that is a pile of doo doo because collective bargaining can be classified as
anyone that doesn’t believe in the sanctity of human life be it born or unborn is just as inhumane as the Nazis
It's a very fine line between Neo-Conservatism and Fascism and it's a blurry one at times.
 

Carne Seca

Well-Known Member
It was sarcasm man… anyone that doesn’t believe in the sanctity of human life be it born or unborn is just as inhumane as the Nazis…the most intolerant, narrow-minded, insular people of the 21st century call themselves liberals!!!! (Democrats)

The irony and incongruity is, they think and claim to be tolerant…

You really should get some sleep man, I think you’re over tired!!!

May I ask you a personal question doc?

As a child, did you torture or cause pain to small animals?

I think you must have, its never too late to seek help ! The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"-Edmund
Ikemy you have a total of 5 fucking posts in this forum. Judging by the crest I'm assuming you're devout Catholic. Who are you to pass judgment on doc? Or are you just trying to deflect the topic to ad hominem attacks?

First of all even Mormons believe that abortion should be available for victims of rape or incest. This coming from the most conservative church in the nation. What point is there to make a victim of rape suffer even more and face humiliation over something she had no choice over? This isn't about partisan politics. It's about human rights (once again) and a woman has the right to her own body. Anything else is just male chauvinism at it's worst.
 

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
and i always love these freaks who say that killing an unborn fetus is wrong, so to show how wrong it is, they kill dr's who dare perform such operations.. the whole thing really makes me ill.. and i think that women who had thought of having an abortion, but later changed their minds, should drop off the kids on one of these peps front step and let them raise and love them all, wonder how long they would still take their stances..
 

NoDrama

Well-Known Member
Ikemy you have a total of 5 fucking posts in this forum. Judging by the crest I'm assuming you're devout Catholic. Who are you to pass judgment on doc? Or are you just trying to deflect the topic to ad hominem attacks?

First of all even Mormons believe that abortion should be available for victims of rape or incest. This coming from the most conservative church in the nation. What point is there to make a victim of rape suffer even more and face humiliation over something she had no choice over? This isn't about partisan politics. It's about human rights (once again) and a woman has the right to her own body. Anything else is just male chauvinism at it's worst.
The Mormons (Latter Day Saints LDS) are not the most conservative church, not by a long shot.
 
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