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Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail

By Jeralyn, Section Legislation
Posted on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 12:34:59 PM EST
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Virginia is seeking to criminalize the non-reporting of a miscarriage . The bill is H.B. 1677 and it provides:

"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."

Democcracy for Virgina responds:

Though there is no practical benefit to the Commonwealth in collecting this information from women - in fact, there would be considerable burden placed on local law enforcement agencies. This bill places the advancement of the cause of recognizing legal "personhood" for all products of conception far above the concerns of the Commonwealth and of the dignity of individual women whose privacy would be violated.

[link via ACS blog ]

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    • Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail | 17 comments (17 topical)
    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#1)
    by Patrick on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 12:45:47 PM EST
    More accurately, fail to report that you've had a miscarriage and possibly be charged with a crime.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 02:01:42 PM EST
    Logically, a woman should take the precaution of reporting after every period, since she might have become pregnant without implantation. She should report to avoid the risk of jail. Every menstruating woman in Virginia should file such a report monthly, to be safe. Inscribed on stone tablets for durable record keeping by the local authorities. And send in the used tampons in case they are needed for evidence.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 02:38:12 PM EST
    what about jurisdiction, for example if a woman travelling passes through virginia and has her miscarriage in virginia but does not report it to the virginia police has she committed a crime? what about if she goes home to her own state and contacts the police there, but the police there don't track that kind of information is she in the clear? what about if a woman gets pregnant in virginia, leaves virginia, miscarriages in another state and returns to virginia, will she be required to report that she miscarried in new york to her sister's funeral? gosh, i love when really well thought out laws come along - they are a triumph of the human intellect.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 02:38:16 PM EST
    Good God! I actually thought this was a bill from 1677 (which makes more sense, I guess), rather than bill#1677. Clueless.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 02:49:44 PM EST
    Frankly, there is no way to be sure, unless every woman in the land of Virgins sends her menstrual cloths to the governor's office for DNA testing. A new postal rate, "Scarlett Letter Rate," has been established-- as a convenience, women may also receive a voucher from new "Red Cabin" shops appearing in malls. The government is still weighing the option of having all men submit to public pubic smelling by trained dogs at airports, to insure that no adultery is producing unblessed children condemned to hell for all eternity. It is also required that all citizens of Virginia retain their fingernail clippings in a tight-fitting jar for 3-years, at which time they may bury them under a new moon, next to their genital wart-removing potatoes. The Commonwealth of Virginia regrets the mention of unmentionables in this posting. --

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 02:51:36 PM EST
    If neccessary to meet deadlines, can the report be phoned in from a cell phone while driving? Can you call 911 if it's after hours or you don't know the cop's local phone number?

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 03:20:22 PM EST
    this is utterly ridiculous. up to a third of all pregnancies terminate on their own in the first trimester - many times without the mother ever being aware that she was pregnant. did the legislators even consult a gynecologist before drafting this idiotic law? i mean, this law is on par with ones i've heard of against having a chicken in your bathtub or some such nonsense.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 04:33:56 PM EST
    Third world, how sad.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 04:52:13 PM EST
    kelite - it wasn't a chicken it was a duck, and I only had to do community servicing. Now chickens, hell, even I can unnerstand makin' chickens illegal! 1677 or 2005, this is obviously a period piece, and a 'spot' ruling. Enjoy the Commodores, I'll be here all week.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#10)
    by cp on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 05:23:58 PM EST
    this bill is one of the most repugnant attempts to further control a woman's right to privacy, with regard to reproductive rights, that i've seen in some time. unfortunately, in va, the republicans in the state house figure they can get away with this sort of thing, because no one dare oppose them. wrong! i've e-mailed my disgust to the idiot, and promised to out him, if he can't come up with a good explanation for this "bill in search of a problem". he should be ashamed of himself, and should be shamed in public unless he withdraws it. you'll notice it was placed in the hopper in late december, right before christmas, when he figured it would be less likely to be noticed. scumbag!

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 08, 2005 at 09:29:51 PM EST
    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. This makes me wonder. Does the bill also have a provision for if the miscarraige happens with medical attendance, or if medical help is sought in the 12 hour period? Or are these casesw already reported to law enforcement?

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 01:10:47 AM EST
    I suppose that the proponents of this law would consider a failure to report the natural abortion of a pregnancy less than 30 days after conception to be a criminal act. I suspect there are many women who aren't even aware they are pregnant that could be technically held liable under the wording of this law. I'm sure that the religious right loves this law. (1) it's another tool to use in the witch hunts they seek to make common place in our society, (2) its another step towards labeling a woman's body "community property", and (3) it serves to force their excessively narrow definition of humanity's existence as a microbe rather than a functioning organism. Social Conservatives, as a group, are quite conservative indeed with their definition of human life in the womb. Too bad they are excessively liberal in their relativistic judgements determining the value of basic human rights after birth.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 07:56:22 AM EST
    Assuming this bill ever passes, it'' never withstand constitutional challenges. Note the bill does NOT say "Miscarriage" anywhere -- it says "fetal death." Presumably, this WOULD include voluntary abortions. In other words, if a woman "terminates" her pregnancy -- gets an abortion -- she must report this fact to law enforcement -- the cops -- within 12 hours (presumably even if she is suffering complications from the procedure and is still in recovery.) Right. Never. As a prior poster pointed out, the right to reproducive privacy per Roe and medical privacy per state law (surely VA has this?), this bill, if enacted, will never survive the courts. This is just another fascist attempt to strip the people -- who, after all, are the ultimate authority in a free society -- of their inalienable rights given them by the creator. You heard me. The totalitarian right wants to destroy America and all of the rights and liberties her Constitution recognizes and guarantees. It's that simple.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#14)
    by cp on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 05:22:01 PM EST
    update: i received a form letter response from del. cosgrove's office. in it, he states that it was never his intent to require miscarriages to be reported, only delivered dead babies. further, he states that this bill was proposed at the behest of the chesapeake police dept. apparently, there are a lot of babies abandoned after birth in chesapeake, va. at present, they can only charge the person responsible with improper disposal of a human body. oddly, you don't read about this epidemic in the state newspapers. further, if the child is still alive when abandoned, i would think other charges would be appropriate, and this law wouldn't apply in any event. i sent a response to del. cosgrove to that effect. perhaps, before you submit a bill to the legislature, you should make sure it actually says what you mean. i also pointed out that a bill, covering the entire state, didn't seem appropriate for purposes of fixing a local problem, that's what city council's are for. i'll let you know what response, if any, that i receive.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#15)
    by Che's Lounge on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 06:41:39 PM EST
    Save the contents of conception for toxicology testing. If positive for banned substances, the mother could be charged with involuntary manslaughter. After all, they are human beings, right? Does this also nullify the birth certificate as documentation of existence? If it's really a person, we should name the embryo and issue certificates of conception.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#16)
    by cp on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 10:12:59 PM EST
    i read del. cosgrove's bio. i can only assume they were hard up for candidates in the city of chesapeake when he got elected. i was not all that impressed. but, don't take my word for it, read it for yourself.

    Re: Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 11:17:06 PM EST
    They may have actually been hard up for candidates, since I think I read that nobody ran against him when he was elected.

    Virginia: Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail | 17 comments (17 topical)