Tenn. woman who tried to self-abort pleads guilty to felony

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Tenn. woman who tried to self-abort pleads guilty to felony
Jonathan Mattise, Associated Press
Updated 5:59 pm, Wednesday, January 11, 2017



NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee woman accused of trying to end her pregnancy with a coat hanger has pleaded guilty to a felony and was released after more than a year in jail.

Anna Yocca, 32, pleaded guilty this week to attempted procurement of a miscarriage, according to Rutherford County Criminal Court documents. Her baby survived and state officials said the child is OK.

The case was unsettling for abortion rights advocates, who fear that President-elect Donald Trump might try to follow through on campaign rhetoric about penalizing pregnant women who have abortions. Trump also said he would appoint an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice who could be open to weakening or reversing the landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Tenn-woman-who-tried-to-self-abort-pleads-guilty-10851331.php

[uppityperson]

1. That poor woman

[guillaumeb]

2. One casualty in the GOP's war on women.

Recommended.

[babylonsister]

3. What the...? What kind of shape

was this woman in to do that, and the pols want to use her pain to make a point?

So unfair, unnecessary, and cruel.

[Crash2Parties]

4. How is "attempted procurement of a miscarriage" a fellony after Roe v Wade????

[cstanleytech]

8. Its not but she probably doesnt have the resources to fight it so she took what she thought

was the best deal much like how Karen Fletcher took a plea deal for writing sex stories involving children even though technically the 1st amendment should have protected her.

[JonLP24]

9. Plus she had a lot of phobias

Especially in a court room, those stories were a release for her because of what happened to her. It was unnecessary and cruel to drag her through that ordeal so she just did what was easiest to get it over with.

[cstanleytech]

10. Yup, I'm just glad that the prosecutor who went after her got her ass handed to her when she ran for

Congress.

[Crash2Parties]

11. Those were the days, eh? When being evil would hurt a politicians's chances of holding office...

[cstanleytech]

12. Ya, now they cheer them on and elect them president after they make fun of a disabled person on

national television and then they bend over like a pretzel to makes excuses when a story breaks that a country hostile to our country helped him win with the goal of maybe getting sanctions lifted and they go on the defensive even though they might not have done anything wrong and there is no evidence to prove that they were actively involved in it and coordinating with the other country over it.

[niyad]

5. and the war on women continues apace

[brer cat]

6. And will be speeding up very soon. nt

[niyad]

7. that it will!

[egold2604]

13. who knew the Handmaiden's Tale is a documentary

[milestogo]

14. Here we go... back to the ugly past.

[dembotoz]

15. welcome to the new america

[Sunlei]

16. up to about 95% of people take a plea deal to get out of jail. Or rot for years waiting for trial.

"attempted procurement of a miscarriage"

[karynnj]

17. She delivered a 24 week gestation infant when taken to the hospital - who lived

The article also states that the child had injuries from the attempted abortion. I do NOT think that it should be legal to abort a viable fetus - which this one clearly was. It seems that about half the states prohibit an abortion after 24 weeks and in the other states, I doubt you could find a doctor willing to do an abortion unless the life/health of the woman was at risk or there were serious abnormalities in the baby. I do understand that she did not have the option of NOT initiating the abortion and just asking that the hospital induce labor and put the resultant baby up for adoption.

ESPECIALLY given the current political situation, I do not think this is a case where we should make a stand arguing that this abortion should have been legal. Arguing for aborting a VIABLE, presumably healthy baby is a point beyond where the vast majority of people would be willing to go. If abortion rights people take this up, I predict that they will LOSE support for their cause.

Yes, I KNOW that many people here will disagree, but I suspect that there are many here who might agree.

[JTFrog]

18. No access to abortion means this is going to happen. Are you not familiar with history?

What the fuck? I don't know the whole story, but she is in the part of the country where there is a war on women. She may very well have wanted an abortion way before 24 weeks.

Tennessee has several stringent abortion restrictions, including a 2015 law requiring women seeking abortions to receive mandatory counseling and wait 48 hours before they can get the abortion.

[karynnj]

19. I know nothing beyond what was in the story in terms of her story

As to history, I was in college pre Roe vs Wade. I knew "girls" who collected money in the dorm to help someone "in trouble". I knew that it was scary, risky, and illegal. They did not have the option of the Tennessee law - onerous as it could be. Not to mention, none of them were at the end of their 6th month!

I realize she might have wanted one earlier, but that does not change that when she attempted to abort the fetus was already viable.

Roe vs Wade carefully designed a continuum where at the beginning of a pregnancy it is 100% the woman's right to obtain an abortion. At the point a baby becomes viable, which I believe was thought to be 26 weeks when the law was written, but now has been moved lower thanks to better medical techniques. At the point where she was, doctors require that there be a risk to the woman's heath or lif or severe abnormalities in the fetus.

Here, I agree completely we need to fight to insure that abortions, consistent with Roe vs Wade, are available. I do not like the Tennessee law and I get that if you need to travel a distance to the facility, it could be onerous, but you need to fight THAT law -- not put yourself behind this particular case. In fact, what it will do is shift people who would support keeping abortion legal and available against any group arguing that the action of this woman is justified.