Forced Abortions for Women on Probation?
Thursday October 26, 2006
Category: Abortion and Birth Control
A Missouri judge has imposed a unique probationary condition on an accused forger:
(Hat tip: Feministing.)
A Missouri judge has imposed a unique probationary condition on an accused forger:
A St. Joseph woman who has three children says she was shocked when a judge ordered her not to have any more children out of wedlock while she is on probation for three years.Under the judge's order, it's perfectly legal for the defendant to become pregnant--she's just not allowed to carry the pregnancy to term if she does. This probably won't matter much, because she has already had her tubes tied, but what the judge said to the press is a little more disturbing:
He compared his action to restitution, which he includes in probation orders even if it has already been paid.In other words: He has essentially conceded that he also plans to impose this restriction on some women whose tubes have not been tied.
(Hat tip: Feministing.)
Comments
Hmm… It’ll be intriguing to see how this plays out in courts, and among politicians, especially among conservatives who are in favor of strict crime punishments and against abortions.
I don’t have a fundamental problem with this, actually, for someone who is found guilty of a crime. Criminal punishment involves the curtailing of individual liberty as a means of punishment… though I confess that curtailing this particular liberty is unsettling.
“Under the judge’s order, it’s perfectly legal for the defendant to become pregnant–she’s just not allowed to carry the pregnancy to term if she does.”
HOGWASH!
She (for the sake of discussion the fact that she has already had a tubal ligation is being ignored) is “perfectly at liberty” to get pregnant and then to allow the pregnancy to follow its natural course. Mind you, if that natural course results in a live birth then she isn’t going to be “perfectly at liberty” much longer - she’ll be treated in exactly the same manner as anyone who has breached a term of their probation.
UC is right. And moreover, if she conceives a child and GETS MARRIED before deliving the child, that doesn’t even violate her probation.