Mother Granted A Break But 'Fetal Harm' Prosecutions Loom

"A Mississippi judge ruled on Thursday that the state has no legitimate murder case against a 24-year-old woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby after using cocaine during her pregnancy.

Rennie Gibbs was a teenager in 2006 when her baby was born dead with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. While no actual cocaine was found in the baby's blood, an autopsy turned up "traces of a cocaine byproduct." Mississippi state prosecutors indicted Gibbs for "depraved-heart murder," a second-degree murder charge used for crimes that demonstrate a "callous disregard for human life" and result in death. Gibbs was facing a possible life sentence.

Gibbs' case is part of a wave of "fetal harm" cases in which women are prosecuted when their babies are born with traces of drugs in their system."* Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, Michael Shure and John Iadarola break it down on The Young Turks.

*Read more here from Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:

**********

The Largest Online News Show in the World. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE STREAMING weekdays 6-8pm ET.

Young Turk (n), 1. Young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party. 2. Young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations. (American Heritage Dictionary)

The Young Turks (Winner - Best Political Podcast & Best Political News Site of 2009) were the first original talk show on Sirius satellite radio and the first live, daily webcast on the internet. But that is not the revolution.

We are a rare show that combines all of the news that people care about in one place. We are not afraid to talk about politics and entertainment and sports and pop culture. But that is not the revolution either.

The real revolution is in daring to be honest with people. We don't patronize our viewers or lie to them. We have real conversations and deliver the news honestly.

[tangerinefarmer]

The umbilical cord wrapped around a baby's neck will kill them every time. Perhaps they should charge the doctor for not discovering it fast enough using a fetal heartbeat monitor.

[SangMitang]

I literally do not care how much cocaine is in a stillborn's body. No one, and I mean NO one, should EVER be charged for the death of their own fetus. Once you start investigating and prosecuting people for having stillborns or miscarriages, you have gone way too far.

[xWink]

Why do we live in a world where hundreds of millions, or maybe even billions of people actually believe that an unborn fetus is worth more than a 16 year old girl's life...

[insimplebeing]

we should prosecute a woman for doing drugs during her pregnancy?! give me a break... this is insane

[MykTheOccultist]

If she gets convicted this will set a horrible precedent.

[TheRobotDevilInside]

It's not the fact that it kills the baby, but that it could harm and damage it for it's entire life!

[jenniferantonelli-bernardo]

This is unjust and just disgusting. This women has suffers a miss carriage, does the state care to give her social services to support her? I wish they would put there ambitious energy of saving "lives" towards actually saving and helping the lives of those less fortunate, rather than traumatizing and dehumanizing people .

[krimsonsuccubz]

a woman can do everything by the book when it comes to carrying a baby while it developes and still have a chance of a still born. its sick that the goverment think they have the right to even do this

[PaddyCollector]

Nice job wasting tax payer funds on a case that will obviously fail on appeal.  Why not just flush the money down the toilet?

[romperstompist]

Strange that in a country with private prisons people are fighting for a system where women can be imprisoned for having a miscarriage. MURICA land of the free.

[dominsu]

Trying to prosecute a girl with a drug addiction who was pregnant then miscarried at 16...how unbelievably cruel is the American justice and healthcare system?

[photadyta]

It's devastating enough to have a stillborn birth, let alone, be investigated for the reasons why.

[fridaykiss]

A woman's placenta is always sent off for testing after giving birth.
This law really gives doctors a pass if they are the ones responsible for an infants death or other physical complications due to medical malpractice or negligence.

[JustinKing]

Why shouldn't they charge her with a crime? What if she gave birth to the baby and it turned out that cocaine use was the direct cause of long term brain damage? Is that not criminal?

[MrMountainchris]

While I don't agree with prosecuting mothers who just miscarry, I do think it is perfectly fine to prosecute a mother who uses drugs during her pregnancy. 

[SaintedPIacebo]

HOLY CRAP. It says "Views: 2" I have been watching for 5 years and i have never done dat. The little things in life <3

[RoyalFleurDeLis]

Babies are born stillborn all the time for natural reasons. My sister had the umbilical cord around her neck and was saved but she was just lucky. The only reason they are going after this woman is they need to bring in money to the prison system.

[Gurianthe]

getting pregnant in the US must be scary as fuck

[FSquid]

I'm torn about this case. On the one hand, I think it's imperative that people who cannot manage to go 9 months without using drugs should absolutely not be having children.

On the other hand, I have no clue how you would enforce such a legal policy fairly.

One of the leading problems in humanity today is people who aren't ready to be responsible parents going and having children. The first decade or so of a child's life is extremely important in forming their personality and plays a massive role in how their life will turn out. It's not at all surprising that most criminals, drug addicts, etc, have had terrible childhoods and it's damn shame.

Just think about it. Your children pick up your mannerisms. They learn to talk from you. They even pick up your accent and everything. If you aren't a responsible, capable, functioning adult, it's going to be very difficult for your child to be one.

[bjrn_]

A murder charge would only make sense if her intent was to kill the fetus, and crack was her method. If she used it because of her addiction it's not really murder, at the very most involuntary manslaughter.