pregnant criminals

Lawyers, guns, and money has an interesting post about the absurdity of prosecuting pregnant women for things like drug delivery to a fetus. Or even dumber prosecutions.

A good example is the punishment of pregnant women. My common sense indicates that prosecuting pregnant women for anything and everything they do during pregnancy that might -- or might not -- affect fetal development is a bad idea. Take, by way of example, the case of Theresa Hernandez. Ms. Hernandez, who lives in Oklahoma, is being tried for first degree murder for suffering a stillbirth at 32 weeks of pregnancy. The prosecution is based on a "highly questionable" (according to NAPW) claim that Ms. Hernandez's use of illicit drugs during her pregnancy caused the pregnancy loss.