An Indiana woman will serve 20 years in prison for the death of her unborn baby — making her the first woman to be convicted of and sentenced for feticide in the U.S.
Purvi Patel was found guilty last month after prosecutors argued the 33-year-old took drugs from China to end her pregnancy in 2013, and then dumped the baby’s body in a trash can. Her attorneys said she miscarried and threw the fetus away in a panic.
A northern Indiana judge sentenced Patel to 30 years Monday for the neglect conviction. Patel will also concurrently serve six years for feticide, which Indiana defines as an act to intentionally terminate pregnancy. Ten years of her sentence were suspended and she could ultimately face as little as 10 years total with good behavior, WNDU reported.
"You, Miss Patel, are an educated woman of considerable means. If you wished to terminate your pregnancy safely and legally, you could have done so," St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hurley said in court.
Patel “treated the child literally as a piece of trash,” she added.
Police found the body of Patel’s baby on July 14, 2013, in a trashbin behind her family's restaurant in Mishawaka, Ind. Patel said she miscarried 30 weeks into her pregnancy, panicked and threw the fetus out when she started bleeding.
But prosecutors said Patel ordered pregnancy-ending drugs from China, but the baby was born alive when she took the drugs, prosecutors said. Patel dumped the still-alive baby in the trash instead of seeking medical attention, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roule said.
Prosecutors never proved she took any drug to end the pregnancy, defense attorney Jeff Sanford said.
"I don't think Miss Patel is the monster she's portrayed to be," Sanford said.
 |
Patel claimed she miscarried and threw the fetus away in a panic.
Patel’s conviction and sentencing marks the first time a U.S. woman has been tried and punished for feticide, activists said.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment