Pregnant Iowa Woman Arrested for Falling Down

Pregnant Iowa Woman Arrested for Falling Down
by Roxann MtJoy

Published February 12, 2010 @ 06:00AM PT


Life can't get much worse for Christine Taylor. Last month, after an upsetting phone conversation with her estranged husband, Ms. Taylor became light-headed and fell down a flight of stairs in her home. Paramedics rushed to the scene and ultimately declared her healthy. However, since she was pregnant with her third child at the time, Taylor thought it would be best to be seen at the local ER to make sure her fetus was unharmed.

That's when things got really bad and really crazy. Alone, distraught, and frightened, Taylor confided in the nurse treating her that she hadn't always been sure she'd wanted this baby, now that she was single and unemployed. She'd considered both adoption and abortion before ultimately deciding to keep the child. The nurse then summoned a doctor, who questioned her further about her thoughts on ending the pregnancy. Next thing Taylor knew, she was being arrested for attempted feticide. Apparently the nurse and doctor thought that Taylor threw herself down the stairs on purpose.

According to Iowa state law, attempted feticide is an trying "to intentionally terminate a human pregnancy, with the knowledge and voluntary consent of the pregnant person, after the end of the second trimester of the pregnancy." At least 37 states have similar laws. Taylor spent two days in jail before being released. That's right, a pregnant woman was jailed for admitting to thinking about an abortion at some point early in her pregnancy and then having the audacity to fall down some stairs a couple of months later. Please tell me you find this as horrifying as I do.

The District Attorney -- after three weeks of investigation -- eventually declined to prosecute Taylor. Before you get too happy, keep in mind that this decision was made, not because the arrest was travesty to begin with, but because it came to light that Taylor was late in her second trimester when she fell, not early in her third as the hospital staff had thought. I guess you are allowed to trip and fall in the first two-thirds of your pregnancy in Iowa, but do so in your last third and the long arm of the law will grab you by your swollen ankles.

Of all the horrible, shocking elements to this case, perhaps one of the worst is the breach of confidentiality on the part of the hospital staff. Christine Taylor came to them emotionally vulnerable in order to seek help for her unborn child. She thought she was in a safe place talking to professionals in whom she could confide. Oops, her bad. As Robert Rigg, professor at the Drake University Law School, said, "How in the heck did the police get a statement made by a patient to a medical person during the course of treatment?

Sadly, this is already the second time this year I've written about an innocent pregnant woman held against her will. What is wrong with people that they think that this is okay? Christine Taylor sure doesn't know. This ordeal has turned her life upside and made finding a job that much harder. I guess we've all learned a valuable lesson: when pregnant, you should always act ridiculously happy about it, regardless of circumstances. And, for heaven's sake, don't dare fall down.

http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/pregnant_iowa_woman_arrested_for_falling_down