Furthermore, the state's murder statute has a subsection that specifically says the intentional killing of a foetus is murder.
"The legislature has mandated that a foetus has a status separate and distinct of the mother, and our obligation is to apply the law," says Terry Curry, the county prosecutor handling Shuai's case.
That Shuai left a note signifying her intentions to kill the foetus as well as herself, he says, makes it clear that she violated the new law.
But not everyone thinks the charges are just.
"The law for 200 years has been to protect pregnant women, not prosecute them," says Linda Pence, Shuai's lawyer.
She says that it's not likely that the rat poison killed Shuai's baby, and that charging Shuai for attempting to kill herself denies her the rights of most citizens.
"Under their interpretation, everyone in the state can kill themselves except pregnant women, who then face some of the most restrictive statues in the book," she says.
[WS:] Jury nullification looks more and more attractive. An effective way of sabotaging the ENTIRE US "justice" system.
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."