The Indiana woman convicted in the death of her fetus has been cleared of the most serious charges in a case closely watched by women’s rights and anti-abortion forces, reports the Guardian.
The appeals court Friday threw out the conviction of fetal homicide saying the legislature never intended the law to punish pregnant woman. The law was passed after a pregnant woman was shot and lost the twins she was carrying.
“Given that the legislature decriminalized abortion with respect to pregnant women only two years before it enacted the feticide statute, we conclude that the legislature never intended the feticide statute to apply to pregnant women. Therefore, we vacate Patel’s feticide conviction.”
The court also reduced her child neglect charge from a felony to a class D.
The bottom line her 20 year sentence will likely be cut by at least half.
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Judge Elizabeth Hurley will resentence the Indian American under the lesser charge of child neglect.
