Different Takes: Alabama’s Not Alone When It Comes To Punishing Pregnant Women
Editorial writers focus on the manslaughter charges against Marshae Jones.
The New York Times:
Alabama Isn’t The Only State That Punishes Pregnant Women
Last week, the world learned the chilling news that Marshae Jones, a 28-year-old woman who was five months pregnant when shot in the stomach, has been charged with manslaughter. When a grand jury failed to indict Ebony Jemison, the woman who fired the gun, the police in Pleasant Grove, Ala., sought someone else — and landed on Ms. Jones, whom they now blame for the altercation that lead to the termination of her pregnancy. To the police, if Ms. Jones had not picked a fight, her fetus would have survived. (Michele Goodwin, 7/1)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Nothing Says 'Pro-Life' Like Prosecuting The Victim For Being Shot While Pregnant
It was only a matter of time before the national debate over fetal rights and abortion would lead to this: A woman in Alabama has been charged with manslaughter for allegedly being involved in an argument in December that ended when another woman shot her in the stomach. The victim was five months pregnant and lost her baby. The shooter has walked free. (7/1)
The Birmingham News:
Marshae Jones Indictment Is Complex; Alabama Hypocrisy Isn’t
A pregnant woman gets in a fight. She is shot. She goes to the hospital. She loses the baby. The shooter goes free and the wounded woman – Jones – goes to jail. She is charged with killing her own baby, with manslaughter because she initiated the fight that provoked the other woman to shoot her. Whoa. Right up there with giving rapists parental rights, Alabama. (John Archibald, 6/27)
