Gabriela Flores has plenty of company. South Carolina is notorious for jailing women charged with violating laws that ostensibly were passed to protect them.

Stillborn Justice
By BOB HERBERT

Two years ago Regina McKnight of Conway, S.C., was 22 years old, homeless, addicted to cocaine, possibly mentally handicapped, and pregnant. When she gave birth on May 15, 1999, the infant was stillborn.

Here's how South Carolina, a state with a long history of backwardness, dealt with this tragedy: Regina McKnight was convicted of homicide and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Ms. McKnight smoked crack while she was pregnant, and an autopsy showed evidence of cocaine in the infant's system. The doctor who performed the autopsy believed that the fetus expired a day or two before the delivery, which occurred eight and a half months into the pregnancy.

Doctors who testified at the trial did not agree on whether Ms. McKnight's addiction was the cause of death. Nevertheless, a jury deliberated only 15 minutes before finding her guilty of homicide by child abuse.

In South Carolina's system of criminal justice a viable fetus is considered a person. This allows the authorities to wage open warfare on pregnant women who do not behave as the authorities would like. Virtually any behavior that could potentially harm the fetus can be prosecuted as criminal child abuse. A pregnant woman who smokes, drinks, uses legal or illegal drugs or even fails to follow a doctor's orders is at risk of prosecution for child abuse or
murder.