Ga. woman jailed on murder charge after taking abortion pill

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate said Tuesday that they are stunned authorities have charged a Georgia woman with murder after she was accused of terminating her pregnancy by taking an abortion pill.

Kenlissia Jones, 23, of Albany was being held at the Dougherty County jail on charges of malice murder and possession of a dangerous drug. District Attorney Greg Edwards said Tuesday afternoon that he is reviewing the case, but "as of right now she's still charged."

Prosecuting Jones seems at odds with Georgia case law, said Lynn Paltrow, an attorney and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, a legal group in New York. She noted state law explicitly prohibits prosecuting women for feticide involving their own pregnancies. And a Georgia appeals court ruled in 1998 that a teenager whose fetus was stillborn after she shot herself in the abdomen could not be prosecuted for performing an illegal abortion. Prosecutors ended up dropping that case.

"We don't believe there is any law in Georgia that allows for the arrest of a woman for the outcome of her pregnancy," said Paltrow, whose group is offering free legal aid to Jones.

-more-

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/ga-woman-jailed-on-murder-charge-after-taking-abortion-pill/ar-BBkRkbH

[valerief]

1. Someone explain to me how Georgia is different from Saudi Arabia for women. nt

[aikoaiko]

4. She can drive a car in Georgia without religious authorities going nuts.

There's that.

[wcmagumba]

7. Looking at trends of Repub Legislation...

This is subject to change, what a bunch of wackos...

[JanMichael]

12. The bar is tooooo loooow. nt

[villager]

41. There's pretty much *only* that.

For now.

[Warpy]

44. And that's about it, except being able to go around without an abaya

Georgia is in the forefront of trying to strip all civil rights from women, especially young women.

They really do want to turn us all into cattle.

[Fumesucker]

8. No beheading of witches

Yet...

[Hekate]

38. She won't get a thousand lashes. She won't get stoned by a mob.

Other than that, God help the women of Georgia, USA.

[valerief]

42. Maybe not OUTSIDE of prison, but INSIDE guards can pretty much do as they please. nt

[TDale313]

2. Wow.

So disturbing on so many levels. This just has to get thrown out... Doesn't it?

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[aikoaiko]

5. Im confident this case will be dismissed.

[MH1]

10. Can she sue for false imprisonment?

It seems like they arrested her as punishment even though the case will never hold.

[aikoaiko]

15. I doubt it, but I have to believe the DA will dismiss.

[Curmudgeoness]

24. That is beside the point.

She is still sitting in a cell before the are done playing their game.

[yeoman6987]

26. If she was charged then she can be held

This will be thrown out and she will go home. She won't win if she sues though.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Why are anti-choices shocked?

This is EXACTLY what they are working towards

[LuvNewcastle]

25. Yes, it is.

This is what they've been working toward all along. Operation Rescue and the rest of those nutbar orgs would love to see women prosecuted for abortions, along with the doctors who perform them. This case should be held up by pro-choice activists as an example of things to come if women's rights aren't protected now.

[awoke_in_2003]

27. The only reason fundies bitch about sharia law...

is because they (fundies) can't have their form of the same thing here- yet.

[onecaliberal]

9. Wait, abortion is legal last I heard. How is this possible?

What year is it? Did u fall into an alternate reality?

[RandySF]

11. She was 5 1/2 months pregnant.

[beam me up scottie]

13. Doesn't matter.

From the op:

She noted state law explicitly prohibits prosecuting women for feticide involving their own pregnancies. And a Georgia appeals court ruled in 1998 that a teenager whose fetus was stillborn after she shot herself in the abdomen could not be prosecuted for performing an illegal abortion. Prosecutors ended up dropping that case.

[Ilsa]

21. Pre-viability, if that's what you're thinking of. nt

[WillyT]

14. K & R !!!

Holy god...

[Ilsa]

16. 22 weeks is still pre-viability.

I hope her family sues for false imprisonment or whatever.

[Ilsa]

17. The radical antichoice group said

"To repeat Crutcher’s statement, abortion advocates never met a baby they didn’t want to kill."

This is how outrageous their attitudes are.

[blackspade]

20. Outragous doesn't cover it.

A despicable lie is more like it.

[Omaha Steve]

18. .

National Advocates for Pregnant Women, a legal group in New York. K&R!

[blackspade]

19. WTF? Apparently these assholes want to criminalize being a woman.

There should have been no arrest in this case.

[redruddyred]

22. this is kind of really horrific.

why is abortion still a debate?

[rurallib]

23. has the pharmacy where she bought the pill been arrested for being an accomplice

or is it OK if a profit was made on the sale.
That would seem to fit tea bag logic.

[Loki]

28. Some years ago I thought they would go after birth control, and unfortunately, I was right.

Now they won't stop until they can prosecute any woman who miscarries and charge her with murder. They will do it. They are that crazy, and if think they won't come for you and your daughters and your granddaughters, you had better start preparing for the worst case scenario, Burning witches at the stake, now they will burn you, but in a different way. I can't think of a term that could possibly describe these crazy, fucked up people.

[AnnieBW]

29. Is this still America

or is it Iran? I can't tell anymore.

[Initech]

30. Pro lifers are the American Taliban.

They didn't need to overturn Roe V. Wade, they just needed to make it irrelevant.

[gregcrawford]

31. Having their corpses bulldozed...

... into a toxic waste dump is too good for the conservative maggots that are prosecuting this poor woman. And they DARE to call themselves Christians?!!? They defile the very word, never mind the principles of Christianity. Shit like this is the reason I turned to the comforting solace of atheism.

Fuck, I HATE these people.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. Pfft. Is anyone surprised?

This is where shit has been heading, for a while.

[Thespian2]

33. K & R

I was born and raised in Georgia...this murder charge indicates the level of stupidity of elected officials in the state...

When I say I am FROM Georgia, I am happy to be FAR AWAY FROM Georgia...

[dgibby]

34. Let me guess:

The DA &/or the sheriff are up for re-election. Tell me again about how there's no war on women.

[Old and In the Way]

35. People laughed at me when I said mandatory pregnacy testing would be the next logical move for these

They are going tnere.

[me b zola]

36. KnR

[BlancheSplanchnik]

37. well well. what have all the signs been pointing to?

Exactly this.



Rec number 50. Which seems interesting, by the way.

[Starry Messenger]

39. k&r

[Comrade Grumpy]

40. Thank goodness for NAPW. They've been fighting a lonely fight for years.

[n2doc]

43. Update: Murder Charges Dropped

A Georgia prosecutor says he has dismissed murder charges against a 23-year-old woman accused of inducing an abortion by taking pills.

Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards said in statement Wednesday that Kenlissia Jones of Albany has been released from jail. But she still faces a misdemeanor charge of dangerous drug possession. The prosecutor said "Georgia law presently does not permit prosecution of Ms. Jones for any alleged acts related to the end of her pregnancy."

A police report says Jones took four pills to terminate her pregnancy after breaking up with her boyfriend. She was arrested Saturday.

Abortion-rights advocates and opponents alike were stunned by the murder charge. Georgia has prohibited the prosecution of women for feticide or for performing illegal abortions in cases involving their own pregnancies.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bce6edb64e5a4d26992aadebacee8553/murder-charge-woman-who-took-abortion-pill-questioned