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Marshae Jones.
If you are pregnant and get into an ‘unnecessary’ fight that risks the baby’s life, you may end up in jail.
That is the story of Alabama’s Marshae Jones, who was charged with manslaughter after losing her unborn baby in a shooting.
According to a BBC report, 27-year-old Jones initiated the fight on December 4, 2018.
It was during the altercation that another woman shot Jones in the stomach.
Charges against the shooter were dismissed after a failed indictment.
Police said the two were fighting over the unborn child's father.
"The only true victim in this was the unborn baby. It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby,” investigators said.
While it is unclear whether any anti-abortion laws were applied in Jones' case, women's rights activists and pro-choice advocates condemned the charges.
The report sparked conversation on abortion and when the mothers are criticised for choices made.
Twitter user Nunes said, “If you needed evidence the anti-abortion bill has nothing to do with sanctity of life and everything to do with punishing women, there it is.”
Back home, the High Court’s June 13 verdict reinstating 2012 safe abortion guidelines reopened debate on whether abortion is legal in the country.
A five-judge bench composed of Justices Lydiah Achode, Mumbi Ngugi, Aggrey Muchelule, George Odunga and John Mativo declared that the Constitution outlawed abortion.
However, they found that the withdrawal of the guidelines as illegal and unconstitutional.
In addition, the judges outlawed sections of the Penal Code that made it criminal to offer abortion, saying it offered “blanket” limitation to women’s rights to health.
The court ruled that a woman or a girl who is raped and whose life and health, which includes mental, physical and social well-being, is in danger, can abort.
The Yellowhammer Fund pro-choice advocacy group says it will help Jones with legal representation.
Yellowhammer is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Executive Director Amanda Reyes said, “The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act.”
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