A decision to convict a woman of manslaughter after she suffered a miscarriage while taking methamphetamine has sparked outrage among reproductive rights groups.

Brittney Poolaw from Oklahoma was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter on October 6, with her attorney filing a notice of intent to appeal on October 15, CBS News reports.

Following an autopsy of the fetus, methamphetamine was found in its brain and liver, however, this was not determined to be the cause of death.

Lynn Paltrow, executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, stated that the cause of death may have been a congenital abnormality and placental abruption.

Prosecutors argued that the defendant's use of the drug falls under Oklahoma's manslaughter statute.

In response to the prosecution team's argument, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) released the following statement:

"Oklahoma's murder and manslaughter laws do not apply to miscarriages, which are pregnancy losses that occur before 20 weeks, a point in pregnancy before a fetus is viable (able to survive outside of the womb).

"And, even when applied to later losses, Oklahoma law prohibits prosecution of the 'mother of the unborn child' unless she committed 'a crime that caused the death of the unborn child.'"

According to USA TODAY, Poolaw sought medical attention when she lost her baby between 15 and 17 weeks of pregnancy.

As per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a fetus usually cannot survive outside of the womb prior to 24 weeks of gestation.

For those women who are able to get pregnant under the age of 35, there's a 15% chance of miscarrying, according to stats cited by CBS News.

Tyler Box, a partner at the Overman Legal Group in Oklahoma City unaffiliated with the case, said, per USA TODAY:

"Here, Assistant District Attorney Galbraith believed that but for Ms. Poolaw's methamphetamine consumption this unborn fetus would have been carried to term.

"The issue that jumps out to me initially is how the state was able to prove that it was in fact the meth usage that was the proximate cause of the death.

"In Oklahoma, there isn't a law that makes it illegal to consume banned substances, which may assist Poolaw's appeal chances."

The NAPW argued: "Ms. Poolaw's case is a tragedy. She has suffered the trauma of pregnancy loss, has been jailed for a year and a half during a pandemic, and was charged and convicted of a crime without basis in law or science."

Featured image credit: Pexels

A mother in Alabama has been charged over the death of her baby after getting into an altercation while she was five months pregnant.

Marshae Jones, 27, was shot in the stomach by 23-year-old Ebony Jemison and lost her baby in the process, but since police believe that Jones was the party at fault in the altercation, she was reportedly taken into custody on Wednesday, after a grand jury in Jefferson County handed down an indictment.

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AL.com reports that Jones was charged with manslaughter, but while Jemison was also charged with manslaughter, the shooter had the charges against her dropped after the grand jury failed to indict her. The incident reportedly took place in early December last year, as the fight broke out over what appeared to be the father of Jones' baby.

"The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby," said Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid said to AL.com at the time of the shooting.

"It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby. [...]

"Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here. She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection."

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The incident has taken on new meaning in the wake of Alabama's controversial abortion law, where many women's rights activists are outraged over what they see to be the absurdity of the law in action. The Yellowhammer Fund, part of the National Network of Abortion Funds, released a statement via Executive Director Amanda Reyes:

"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. 

"Today, Marshae Jones is being charged with manslaughter for being pregnant and getting shot while engaging in an altercation with a person who had a gun. Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care."

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"We commit ourselves to making sure that Marshae is released from jail on bond, assisting with her legal representation, and working to ensure that she gets justice for the multiple attacks that she has endured," added Reyes in her statement.

Per CNN, a Californian woman has been charged with murder after giving birth to a stillborn baby which was found to have toxic levels of methamphetamine in its system.

25-year-old Chelsea Cheyenne Becker reportedly gave birth on September 10th, but her child had already passed away.

Doctors surmised that Becker was using meth while she was pregnant, which may have killed the baby.

The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy by the Kings County Coroner's Office discovered methamphetamine in the child's system.
Police arrested the 25-year-old on Tuesday night on a felony charge of first-degree murder, and she was booked into the Kings County Jail in Hanford the following day, with bail set at $5 million. According to CNN, Becker pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Detective Sgt. Justin Vallin of the Hanford police department said, "The levels of methamphetamine in this baby's system were such high levels, even for an adult, so we believe that she was using almost the entire time that she was pregnant," when speaking to KGPE.

Investigators claim that she admitted to used meth throughout her pregnancy right up until she was due to give birth.

Three of Becker's other children were also born with methamphetamine in their systems, and per the publication she has lost custody of several children due to her issues with substance abuse.

Becker's aunt, Julie Lance, reportedly adopted her three-year-old son, and has custody of her one-year-old. Her eldest child, who is four-years-old, has also been adopted.
Speaking about the situation at hand, her cousin, Terra Ordonez, expressed hope that Becker will enter recovery.

"I'm excited for her to straighten up and get clean because I know she's smart enough to get out of it," she asserted. "It's an eye-opener for a lot of women who are struggling. If you're pregnant, scream for help."

The family of Adriana Smith, the Atlanta nurse who carried a pregnancy while brain dead earlier this year, has shared a devastating update on her newborn son.

Smith, 30, collapsed from a catastrophic stroke in February while just eight weeks pregnant with her second child. Despite her family’s pleas, she was kept on life support for months so doctors could attempt to save her baby. In June, her son, Chance, was delivered via emergency C-section.

Now nearly two months old, Chance continues to fight for his life in the neonatal intensive care unit. He was born weighing only 1 pound, 13 ounces and has since grown to nearly five pounds.

“His weight is gradually picking up, but the breathing is what we’re concerned with,” Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, told 11Alive reporters. “He’s making a little bit of progress, but still some things to do.”

Doctors have indicated that Chance may be strong enough to leave the hospital by September or October, though his fragile condition remains a constant worry for the family. Smith’s older son, seven-year-old Chase, is also grappling with the loss of his mother while watching his baby brother endure a long recovery.

“It’s not getting any better, day by day,” Newkirk admitted, describing the grief that has shadowed the family since Smith’s death.

Smith’s story quickly became a flashpoint in the national debate over abortion rights. Her family has argued that Georgia’s restrictive abortion law, known as the LIFE Act, prevented doctors from removing her from life support. The law bans most abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, often around six weeks of pregnancy.

State officials, however, have rejected claims that the law compelled doctors to keep Smith alive after she was declared brain dead. In May, Attorney General Chris Carr’s office issued a statement (via The Independent) saying: “There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death.”

For Newkirk, the legal arguments bring little comfort. She has vowed to fight against Georgia’s abortion restrictions, saying her daughter’s ordeal should never be repeated.

“I want them to know that this didn’t have to happen,” she said. “Women have rights. It’s their body.”

As the Smith family waits anxiously for baby Chance’s next steps, they are balancing hope with heartbreak, grieving a daughter and mother lost too soon while fighting to keep her legacy alive through her child.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family, which is currently at $500k of its $540k goal.

Featured image credit: X.

A pregnant prisoner being held prior to her murder trial has argued that her unborn child is being unlawfully detained.

As reported by The Mirror, 24-year-old Florida woman Natalia Harrell is currently facing trial for the fatal shooting of 28-year-old mom-of-three Gladys Yvette Borcela.

Borcela was killed last summer after she and Harrell got into a heated argument in an Uber taxi. Borcela was then fatally shot by Harrell, who was six weeks pregnant at the time.

She has since pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, and claimed to have acted in self-defense "in fear of her life and the life of her unborn child".

Now, as the mom-to-be awaits her murder trial at the Miami-Dade Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, her attorney, William Norris, is arguing that the unborn child's rights are being infringed upon and it is being unlawfully detained.

Norris has since launched an emergency petition after believing that the unborn child has a "lack of reasonable and necessary prenatal care". He adds that Harrell has not had an OB-GYN appointment since October and nobody has determined when the child is expected to be born.

Harrell's "unborn child is a person as defined under the Florida Constitution and United States Constitution", Norris writes in a legal submission.

Speaking to The Washington Post, the attorney added: "An unborn child has rights independent of its mother, even though it’s still in the womb. The unborn child has been deprived of due process of law in this incarceration. You simply have to have the unborn child as a factor in the equation."

In an official filing, Norris - addressing the baby as "UNBORN CHILD" - writes: "UNBORN CHILD will be likely brought into this world on the concrete floor of the prison cell, without the aid of qualified medical physicians and paramedics, and in the presence of violent criminals.

"The State has placed the UNBORN CHILD in such inherently dangerous environment by placing the UNBORN CHILD in close proximity to violent criminal offenders."

Harrell has also previously argued that she should be released due to the fact that her "unborn child is innocent", per The Mirror.

In response, officials for Miami-Dade Corrections have stated that all inmates in its custody are provided with necessary healthcare in partnership with the Jackson Health System.

The father of the unborn child, Michael O'Brien, has also told NBC Miami that he has frown concerned for the his baby's wellbeing, saying: "I don't want the baby to be born prematurely or low birth weight. The conditions are terrible and I feel she's not getting the pre-natal care she should be getting."

Borcela's mom, Yvette Rivera, has since stated on Facebook that Harrell is attempting to "get a Get Out Of Jail Free card".

This is not the first time the parent of an unborn child has argued that their fetus should be granted the same rights as everybody else following the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Last summer, a pregnant Texas mom challenged a $275 ticket after she was fined for driving in the HOV lane.

By law, in order to be legally accepted in the lanes, at least one passenger must be in the car accompanying the driver.

Despite being 34 weeks pregnant at the time of the stop, the officer told her that her unborn child did not count as another passenger, but she argued that their unborn baby should have been treated as a "living child".

Featured image credit: Miami-Dade Police Department.

A family has spoken out after their pregnant daughter was kept on life support despite being brain-dead due to abortion laws.

Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother from Atlanta, was nine weeks pregnant when she began experiencing intense headaches in early February.

Seeking medical attention, she was reportedly sent home with just medication — no tests, no scans.

“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” her mother, April Newkirk, told 11Alive. “If they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented.”

The next morning, her boyfriend found her gasping for air and making gurgling noises in her sleep — signs, her family believes, of internal bleeding. Rushed to the hospital, a CT scan revealed multiple blood clots in her brain.

Doctors prepared for surgery, but it was too late. Adriana was declared brain dead.

Under normal circumstances, her family could begin the grieving process. But due to Georgia’s controversial abortion legislation — known as the “heartbeat bill” — Adriana’s body has been kept alive on machines for over three months, simply because she was pregnant.

“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” Newkirk said. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, on a ventilator but she’s not there. And I'm touching her. And her son — I bring him to see her.”

Her grandson doesn’t understand what’s happening. “It’s been heartbreaking seeing her grandson believe his mother is ‘just sleeping,’” Newkirk said.

Georgia’s law bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy if there’s a detectable heartbeat, with limited exceptions — only in the case of a “medical emergency,” or when the fetus is deemed “medically futile.”

Since Adriana is already brain dead, doctors say she no longer qualifies as being in medical danger. And that’s where her case falls into a chilling legal limbo.

Doctors reportedly told the family they’re legally obligated to keep Adriana alive until her fetus — now at 21 weeks — reaches viability. The goal is 32 weeks, at which point they plan to induce labor.

“They’re hoping to get the baby to at least 32 weeks,” April said. “But every day that goes by, it’s more cost, more trauma, more questions.”

The emotional toll is devastating — made worse by the fact that the family has no legal say in the matter.

“I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,” Newkirk said. “And if not, then their partner or their parents.”

She emphasized they still don’t know what they would have chosen. But what hurts most is not having a choice.

“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But my grandson may be blind, may not be able to walk, wheelchair bound, we don't know if he'll live once she has him,” she said. “It should have been left up to the family because, I'm in my fifties, her dad is in his fifties, so we're gonna have the responsibility with her partner to raise her sons.

"And I'm not saying that we would have chose to terminate her pregnancy, what I'm saying is we should have had a choice.”

Now, Adriana’s family lives in suspended grief — her body being used to carry a pregnancy she’ll never know, while her loved ones wrestle with trauma, rising medical costs, and heartbreaking uncertainty about the baby’s future.

“This decision should’ve been left to us,” April said. “Now we’re left wondering what kind of life he’ll have — and we’re going to be the ones raising him.”

Featured image credit: 11Alive/YouTube