cyd
01-11-2005, 11:52 AM
Okay, first, to follow up on the article I posted last week on fetal death:
A form letter from Delegate Cosgrove:
Hello:
I am Delegate Cosgrove and I wish to respond to the allegations that have been made by those who have emailed and called my office. The intent of House Bill 1677 is to require the notification of authorities of a delivery of a baby that is dead and the mother has not been attended by a medical professional. This bill was requested by the Chesapeake Police Department in its legislative package due to instances of full term babies who were abandoned shortly after birth. These poor children died horrible deaths and all that the person responsible could be charged with is the improper disposal of a human body.
The requirement for twelve hours comes from the method that a coroner would use to determine if the child had been born alive or dead. After twelve hours, it becomes next to impossible to determine if the child was alive due to decomposition gasses that build up in the body.
My bill in no way intends that a woman who suffers a miscarriage should be charged for not notifying authorities. The bill in no way mentions miscarriages, only deliveries. After discussing the bill again with our legislative services lawyers, I will include language that will define the bill to apply only to those babies that are abandoned as stated above.
I would never inflict this type of emotional torture on a woman who has suffered such a traumatic event as a miscarriage, and I am confident that the General Assembly of Virginia would also not pass such a terrible imposition on a woman.
I hope that you will understand the original intent of this bill. This bill has nothing to do with abortion, contraception and especially miscarriages. If you were alarmed by this bill or by the websites, I am sorry. I hope that this will explain the concept and intent of this bill.
Sincerely,
John A. Cosgrove
My response:
The code of virginia with respect to babies has definitions here:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+32.1-249
Nowhere in there does it say that there is a difference between "delivery" and "miscarriage".
It DOES however state that "Fetal death" means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, regardless of the duration of pregnancy; death is indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.
So in other words, TRASH CAN BABIES NOT INCLUDED.
If fetal death is death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, it means if the baby is completely born and outside of his mother, then the definiton of fetal death does not come into play, and many trash can babies can be described as "live birth" and dumped later. The baby has to be dead before coming out to be considered "fetal death". At which point, if the mother has "expelled" (ye gods, I hate that term) a dead baby, then it is a miscarriage.
The definitions don't jibe.
Either he needs to go back and not specify "fetal death", but instead specify "death within X amount of time of live birth" as according to the definitions, or the entire legislature needs to redefine what "fetal death" means.
Considering just how restrictive the VA code already is with respect to women, birth, sex, and a number of other related topics, it is easy to see how the amendment as currently written (or even re-written if they continue to use the words "fetal death") could be used or misused to trample a woman's rights.
And the response (based on my objections to the original and others):
Delegate Cosgrove is withdrawing the amendment proposal!!!
http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$30532
WOOHOO!!!
Thanks to everyone who wrote the delegate and others to make sure that the horrible amendment as written didn't get through!
While I will say I agree that something should be done about preventing "trash can babies", the key is not to penalize women more, but to EDUCATE them more. Education about birth control, pregnancy, childrearing, and what the OPTIONS are for a woman who finds herself with a child she either does not want or does not have the facilities to care for.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of "cure".
A form letter from Delegate Cosgrove:
Hello:
I am Delegate Cosgrove and I wish to respond to the allegations that have been made by those who have emailed and called my office. The intent of House Bill 1677 is to require the notification of authorities of a delivery of a baby that is dead and the mother has not been attended by a medical professional. This bill was requested by the Chesapeake Police Department in its legislative package due to instances of full term babies who were abandoned shortly after birth. These poor children died horrible deaths and all that the person responsible could be charged with is the improper disposal of a human body.
The requirement for twelve hours comes from the method that a coroner would use to determine if the child had been born alive or dead. After twelve hours, it becomes next to impossible to determine if the child was alive due to decomposition gasses that build up in the body.
My bill in no way intends that a woman who suffers a miscarriage should be charged for not notifying authorities. The bill in no way mentions miscarriages, only deliveries. After discussing the bill again with our legislative services lawyers, I will include language that will define the bill to apply only to those babies that are abandoned as stated above.
I would never inflict this type of emotional torture on a woman who has suffered such a traumatic event as a miscarriage, and I am confident that the General Assembly of Virginia would also not pass such a terrible imposition on a woman.
I hope that you will understand the original intent of this bill. This bill has nothing to do with abortion, contraception and especially miscarriages. If you were alarmed by this bill or by the websites, I am sorry. I hope that this will explain the concept and intent of this bill.
Sincerely,
John A. Cosgrove
My response:
The code of virginia with respect to babies has definitions here:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+32.1-249
Nowhere in there does it say that there is a difference between "delivery" and "miscarriage".
It DOES however state that "Fetal death" means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, regardless of the duration of pregnancy; death is indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.
So in other words, TRASH CAN BABIES NOT INCLUDED.
If fetal death is death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, it means if the baby is completely born and outside of his mother, then the definiton of fetal death does not come into play, and many trash can babies can be described as "live birth" and dumped later. The baby has to be dead before coming out to be considered "fetal death". At which point, if the mother has "expelled" (ye gods, I hate that term) a dead baby, then it is a miscarriage.
The definitions don't jibe.
Either he needs to go back and not specify "fetal death", but instead specify "death within X amount of time of live birth" as according to the definitions, or the entire legislature needs to redefine what "fetal death" means.
Considering just how restrictive the VA code already is with respect to women, birth, sex, and a number of other related topics, it is easy to see how the amendment as currently written (or even re-written if they continue to use the words "fetal death") could be used or misused to trample a woman's rights.
And the response (based on my objections to the original and others):
Delegate Cosgrove is withdrawing the amendment proposal!!!
http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$30532
WOOHOO!!!
Thanks to everyone who wrote the delegate and others to make sure that the horrible amendment as written didn't get through!
While I will say I agree that something should be done about preventing "trash can babies", the key is not to penalize women more, but to EDUCATE them more. Education about birth control, pregnancy, childrearing, and what the OPTIONS are for a woman who finds herself with a child she either does not want or does not have the facilities to care for.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of "cure".