Society

This is happening in the United States, and specifically in Nevada. A woman was imprisoned for an induced miscarriage, after a neighbor reported her, under anti-abortion laws.

The Washington Post reports on a police arrest in Nevada (USA) in 2018. Under its anti-abortion laws, the police arrested a woman in May, following the loss of a fetus in April. When the armed police arrived, Patience Frazier initially thought she was investigating her boyfriend, a drug addict. In the end, it was for her. A neighbor reported her. She was surprised to have seen her "round belly" disappear. The daily newspaper conducted the investigation, including a video of the arrest and interrogation. The editorial team reveals the complexity of the different abortion laws and their emotional impact, particularly in states led by Republicans.

Cinnamon

A video shows police deputy Jacqueline Mitcham questioning the young woman. Among the questions were: "How pregnant were you? Were you pregnant?" Patience Frazier claims not to have known her stage of pregnancy. She will also defend herself by questioning the merits of the investigation: "Why is having a miscarriage a problem? Why is it illegal?" However, she admits tohaving consumed high doses of cinnamon capsules in the hope of making her pregnancy impossible to carry to term, not having the means to go to a clinic within the time limits prescribed by law. At the risk of her health, this ultimately caused severe abdominal cramps followed by the loss of the fetus.

Amoral justice?

In Nevada, the consensus is rather to punish doctors or people who assist in an illegal abortion. Patience Frazier, who admitted to taking a “substance” to terminate her pregnancy, was charged with involuntary manslaughter under a unique 1911 state law on “taking medication to terminate a pregnancy.” She was ultimately sentenced to 2 years in prison. In its investigation, the Washington Post questions the complexity of the rules in this area, with local courts aiming to distinguish between miscarriage and abortion, baby and fetus. This investigation also shows the dismay of women caught in this spiral and, according to the NCJA, what one judge considers to be a “total denial of justice.”

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Sources: La Libre Belgique – Washington Post – National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) – Picture: © Wikipedia – Finetooth - GNU Free Documentation License)