#Purvi Patel [View all]

[handmade34]

spare some indiana-targeted outrage for the poor women of color persecuted by this backasswards state #PurviPatel

https://twitter.com/hashtag/PurviPatel?src=hash

http://www.ircrc.org/purvi-patel/

RELIGIOUS COALITION DEPLORES NEW CRIMINAL CHARGES AGINST PURVI PATEL The Indiana Religious Coalition for Reproductive Justice is dismayed that the St. Joseph County Prosecutor has imposed new charges of feticide and fetal murder against Ms. Purvi Patel based on the tragic outcome of her pregnancy. While significant medical facts are in dispute, one thing is clear: a woman sought emergency medical care because she was hemorrhaging and instead got a criminal investigation and homicide charges filed against her.

The prosecutor has charged her with feticide, a law that was intended to protect a pregnant woman from violence by a third party attacker. The law was never intended to punish a pregnant woman who has lost a pregnancy for any reason.

Medical and public health experts recognize that attaching the threat of criminal prosecution to an appeal for health care is dangerous and will push a woman into hiding. There is broad medical consensus that it is vital for every woman to be able to trust her doctor and be unafraid to seek help in an obstetric emergency.

The outcome of this pregnancy was tragic. It was also tragic that Ms. Patel did not get the appropriate supportive medical care she so desperately needed. That it has become a criminal case is inappropriate, immoral, cruel and sets a dangerous new precedent.

Health improves for all — every mother and baby — when both are supported. Indiana already has deplorable maternal and infant mortality. We cannot afford to deter a woman from seeking reproductive health care. This case should be dropped; not just for Ms. Patel, but for Indiana