I am sick with rage.

[Jaymes]

I read about this on Daily Kos, but couldn't quite believe it.

HB1677: When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Just... ugh, I'm beyond words. I hope this doesn't get passed.

 

[xander-]

We are talkin about a death of the child of a unborn baby?
Whats the punishment for a class 1 misdemeanor?
But of course the mother needs to tell the police, it's not like she can just bury the infant in the back yard. But 12 hours later? Let her grief.

-Xander

 

[Sunstone]

Wasn't Delegate Cosgrove recently in the news for perpetrating some other inanity? This might not be the first time he's shown a perchance for stupidity.

 

[Jaymes]

We are talkin about a death of the child of a unborn baby?

No, we're talking about a miscarried fetus. Fetuses don't get funerals, babies do.

Whats the punishment for a class 1 misdemeanor?

Wikipedia says:

Misdemeanors are "lesser" criminal acts which are generally punished less severely than felonies; but more so than infractions. In some jurisdictions, those who are convicted of a misdeameanor are known as misdemeanants. Depending on the jurisdiction, examples of misdemeanors may include: petty theft, prostitution, simple assault, trespass, vandalism, and the like. In general, misdemeanors are crimes with a maximum punishment of less than one year imprisonment. Those people who are convicted of misdemeanors are often punished with probation, community service or part-time imprisonment, served on the weekends. In many jurisdictions, misdemeanor convicts who are incarcerated serve their time in a local jail, whereas those convicted of a felony who are sentenced to more than one year serve their time in a prison.

But of course the mother needs to tell the police, it's not like she can just bury the infant in the back yard. But 12 hours later? Let her grief.

No, she doesn't. Miscarriages fall under the "none of your damned business" category. Seeing as how it's a fetus at this point and not an infant, they wouldn't be buried at all.

One of my dear friends has had a miscarriage, and I seethe with rage at the thought of her not reporting a clump of blood and tissue coming from her body being counted as a misdemeanor.

 

[Green Gaia]

I had a miscarriage before my children were born. The last thing you're thinking about is informing the police that your pregnancy failed. I had a hard enough time telling family and friends.

 

[xander-]

OK, then i agree with your rage.
-Xander

 

[Sunstone]

What I have learned, through initial research, is that the legislative agenda of numerous anti-abortion groups includes increased reporting of fetal deaths and issuance of death certificates for miscarriages. The point is to advance the legal recognition of "personhood" for all "products of conception".

So, if the author of the article is correct, the reason this law is being proposed in the first place is to advance the cause of anti-abortionists.

 

[Scuba Pete]

This is truly a stupid and inane law.

 

[Fluffy]

No, she doesn't. Miscarriages fall under the "none of your damned business" category. Seeing as how it's a fetus at this point and not an infant, they wouldn't be buried at all.

I know someone who never bothers to use a condom. She forces herself to have a miscarriage because she is afraid of what her parents would say if she went and had an abortion. This has happened 11 times of which I know about. Maybe it is noone elses business but I find the idea of continuous, forced miscarriages pretty sick. I don't really know if it should be or shouldn't be - that was just my initial reaction upon hearing this.

I agree that being punished under this law would be totally unjust however.

 

[jewscout]

I read about this on Daily Kos, but couldn't quite believe it.

HB1677: When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Just... ugh, I'm beyond words. I hope this doesn't get passed.

Yet another characteristic of the Old Dominion....the rampant stupidity of many of her citizens and it's wonderful uber-conservative base!:sarcastic

 

[Godless Dave]

Well, it is the logical conclusion of the concept that abortion is murder. If abortion is murder, than a miscarriage is an accidental death. Gotta give him marks for being consistent, especially when being consistent demonstrates how ludicrous his position is.

 

[fromthe heart]

I read about this on Daily Kos, but couldn't quite believe it.

HB1677: When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Just... ugh, I'm beyond words. I hope this doesn't get passed.

That IS ludicrous as was stated already. ..if this were the case my daughter who had 3 miscarriages is in BIG freakin' trouble. She was too busy cryin' to worry about whether the cops should be notified...what a farce...this guy must need a REAl life or something...I agree with you Jensa and you have reason to feel as you do...let's just hope no one takes people like this guy serious...we'd have to run him out of town on a rail...

 

[linwood]

It is an anti abortionist ploy.

There`s really no way the law could be consistently enforced anyway.

It can`t pass.

 

[Fluffy]

totally agree linwood... I doubt this law could be enforced at all to be honest.

 

[Ceridwen018]

Hold the phone here, people. The embryo is not considered a "fetus'" until well into the second trimester. That means that when you miscarry a fetus, you are actually 'giving birth' to a recognizable dead baby. If you miscarry 'clumps of blood and tissue', this is not considered to be a 'fetus' yet, and therfore there is no reason why you would need to inform the police, although a trip to your doctor is a good idea.

I'm not sure if I agree with this completely or not yet, but I see the reasons why it might be necessary. Like someone said, you can't just bury the dead baby in your backyard. For public health reasons, the miscarried baby needs to be dealt with by someone other than yourself.

 

[bodeanengrl]

A Fetus IS a baby.

 

[Ceridwen018]

That depends on who you're talking to, bodeanengrl, but the point here is that an embryo is not a fetus.

 

[Jaymes]

Hold the phone here, people. The embryo is not considered a "fetus'" until well into the second trimester. That means that when you miscarry a fetus, you are actually 'giving birth' to a recognizable dead baby. If you miscarry 'clumps of blood and tissue', this is not considered to be a 'fetus' yet, and therfore there is no reason why you would need to inform the police, although a trip to your doctor is a good idea.

I'm not sure if I agree with this completely or not yet, but I see the reasons why it might be necessary. Like someone said, you can't just bury the dead baby in your backyard. For public health reasons, the miscarried baby needs to be dealt with by someone other than yourself.

Sorry, I got a little carried away yesterday from being so angry. I understand your point--the women would need to go to someone, but certainly not the police. A doctor to make sure the fetus/embryo has been totally expelled and to give over the remains to be disposed of (they usually treat miscarried fetuses/embryos the same way they do other biohazard things, right?).

From what I understand, this is just a ploy by anti-abortionists to make fetuses have the same rights as fully developed babies.

Veering directions slightly, things that the report would require:

• place of occurrence
• usual residence of patient (mother)
• full maiden name of patient
• medical record number and social security number of patient
• Hispanic origin, if any, and race of patient
• age of patient
• education of patient
• sex of fetus
• patient married to father
• previous deliveries to patient
• single or plural delivery and order of plural delivery
• date of delivery
• date of last normal menses and physician's estimate of gestation
• weight of fetus in grams
• month of pregnancy care began (sic)
• number of prenatal visits
• when fetus died
• congenital malformations, if any
• events of labor and delivery
• medical history for this pregnancy
• other history for this pregnancy
• obstetric procedures and method of delivery
• autopsy
• medical certification f cause of spontaneous fetal death
• signature of attending physician or medical examiner including title, address and date signed
  method of disposal of fetus
• signature and address of funeral director or hospital representative
• date received by registrar
• registrar's signature
• registration area and report numbers

Education of patient? :sarcastic Call me paranoid, but I have a feeling they may be trying to find some crap link between education and miscarriages, since women with a college education tend to reproduce later in life.

 

[Pah]

My email to my state representatives

I can not believe the insensitivity displayed by this proposal. I can not believe this intrusion into such a private matter would become part of criminal law.

How, pray tell, is a woman to know with certainy that an spontaneous abortion takes place proir to the first or second missed menses. The bill leaves a lot to be desired in intelligent crafting.

I ask that you do not support this bill in any fashion.

 

[huajiro]

Forced miscarriage is murder....I agree that they should report all deaths to avoid abuse....I also agree that this is an exaggeration of that. They should give a grieving mother time to report it, but all deaths should be reported. That friend that Fluffy described as using miscarriage as a form of birth control should be locked up before she hurst herself or more unborn children....or anyone else for that matter.