http://www.alternet.org/rights/145956/controversial_utah_law_charges_women_and_girls_with_murder_for_miscarriages
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Utah Governor Signs Controversial Law Charging Women and Girls With Murder for Miscarriages
On Monday afternoon, a controversial Utah bill that charges pregnant women and girls with murder for having miscarriages caused by "intentional or knowing" acts, was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert.
Contrary to media reports last week, the "Criminal Homicide and Abortion Amendments" or HB12, which previously also applied to miscarriages caused by "reckless" acts, was never "withdrawn" by its sponsor, Republican Representative Carl Wimmer (who is crafting similar "model legislation" for other states). After the governor expressed concern over "possible unintended consequences," of the legislation as written, Rep. Wimmer swiftly introduced a new version, titled "Criminal Homicide and Abortion Revisions" (HB462), which omitted the word "reckless." Gov. Herbert signed the new bill and vetoed the old one.
... “We are still passing legislation which seeks to criminalize women for their actions,” Marina Lowe, legislative and policy counsel for the ACLU of Utah, told AlterNet. “The language is still problematic.”
Harrison, who faced 15 years in prison, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony attempted murder, but instead got up to five years, after District Judge A. Lynn Payne sentenced him under Utah’s anti-abortion statute, saying a charge of third-degree “attempted killing of an unborn child” better fit the facts of the case, according to the Tribune.
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To put this in human terms, had Rep. Wimmer’s bill been on the books last spring -- and had the 17-year-old’s fetus not survived -- she would have faced a prison sentence of 15 years to life. Rep. Wimmer says he’s OK with that because the teenager has to face the "consequences of her barbaric actions.”
“It’s pretty rare for a politician to openly support jail time for girls who have abortions, no matter how desperate they seem to be” a 40-something abortion provider who asked to remain anonymous, told AlterNet. “This is extreme. Mark my words. If they can get away with this, they will try to make abortion illegal in the state of Utah. People need to wake up.”
'No One Wants to Defend Abortion'
Rep. Wimmer, who is a conservative Christian, makes no attempt to hide his anti-choice agenda.
According to his Web site, as chairman of the Utah Family Action Council, “we are continually working to pass pro-life legislation which will weaken Roe v. Wade. Abortions should be reserved for extreme cases only.”
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Chlamydia More Likely Than Chicken Pox In Utah
Ironically, just three days after Utah’s House and Senate overwhelmingly passed Rep. Wimmer’s Criminal Homicide and Abortion Amendments bill, the Senate refused to even debate legislation that would have allowed teachers to provide comprehensive sex education to students who had their parent’s permission. Current state law says teachers can’t advocate or endorse the use of contraceptive methods or devices, according to Bird.
“If you teach about chlamydia, you’re allowed to say, ‘This is a condom and this is chlamydia.’ The law would have allowed teachers to say, ‘If you’re having sex, you can use a condom to prevent chlamydia. Abstinence is the best way, but if you’re not abstinent, use a condom.’”
Every day in Utah, 12 teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant. Chlamydia is the number one most reported communicable disease in the state, according to the Utah Department of Health. In 2007 there were 5,721 newly reported cases; 3,748 of those cases (66 percent) were diagnosed in individuals between the ages of 15 and 24. In Utah, you’re more likely to get chlamydia than chicken pox or the flu.
“Young girls are getting chlamydia and they’re not learning about it until they might be infertile,” Emma Waitzman, an 18-year-old senior at Salt Lake City’s West High School, told AlterNet. “That’s morally wrong.”
http://www.AmericanWisdom.org
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