(Previous diary in the series)
I despise hypocrisy. When leaders of the Pro-Life movement reacted in outrage last week to statements made by Donald Trump about punishing women for having abortions, and released statements saying that no one in the Pro-Life movement wishes to see a mother in prison for having an abortion, I grew angry. Not only are Pro-Life groups motivating state politicians to make more and more irresponsible and draconian laws restricting women’s rights and levying harsh criminal punishments, but there are women today in prison across the country for the crime of harming their fetus.
This series of diaries is my attempt to draw attention to those cases, and prevent the radical right from spreading more lies about the effects they have had on this country.
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Amanda Kimbrough, sentenced to 10 years for Chemical Endangerment
Amanda Kimbrough was the mother of two children, Kimberly “Nicole,” 9, and Kailey, 6, when she became pregnant with her third child, Timmy. After testing positive for Down Syndrome early in the pregnancy, Kimbrough refused her doctors’ recommendations that she have an abortion, insisting that she carry her baby to term. Both of her previous children had been born prematurely, at seven and eight months into the pregnancy. On the 25th week of her pregnancy, Kimbrough gave birth to Timmy through an emergency c-section. The baby was stillborn.
“I never heard my son cry and I panicked, asking why,” she said.
The doctors found that Timmy suffered from “occult cord prolapse,” a condition where the umbilical cord descends through the birth canal ahead of the fetus, cutting off blood flow. The prosecutors ignored the doctors and instead focused on something that showed up in Kimbrough’s urine test — a positive result for methamphetamine.
Chemical Endangerment was a law passed in Alabama in 2006 meant to punish drug dealers or manufacturers who exposed children to toxic fumes or accidental contact with illegal drugs. Similar laws have been passed in other states, and although the laws do not specifically mention unborn fetuses, the laws have been used repeatedly to prosecute pregnant women for ingesting illegal or unprescribed drugs. According to ProPublica, 479 pregnant women have been charged with some form of chemical endangerment between 2006 and July 2015, for drugs such as opiates, methamphetamine, cocaine, and, most commonly, marijuana.
In September 2008, Kimbrough was charged with a Class A felony, the same as murder, with bail set at half a million dollars. At the trial, the court informed Kimbrough that her charge carried a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life. When Kimbrough’s attorney asked to present an expert witness to testify that her drug use did not cause the stillbirth, the court refused. Finally, Kimbrough plead guilty, receiving a 10 year sentence.
Kimbrough’s appeal rose all the way to the Alabama Supreme Court, which denied her appeal and ruled that the Chemical Endangerment laws could be used to prosecute women not just for endangering a viable fetus, but from the moment of conception. Brian White, Kimbrough’s attorney, viewed the prosecution of her case as:
“[a] backdoor way to promote the ‘personhood’ agenda - the idea that at any time after conception the fetus should be considered a person with full legal rights”.
Amanda Kimbrough served over three years in one of Alabama’s toughest prisons. Prior to her release in 2015, her letters from prison expressed regret for her mistakes in life and resentment that her own children should be punished for them.
Yes, I hadn’t done meth since 2008. I kicked it by losing a baby (it’s Timmy not Jimmy) and going to rehab. I am against abortion, I was going to keep my baby no matter what, was wrong or whatever. It’s my baby. I’d do any and everything I could for my kids. 4/29 (Tom) Tim Jr. would be 6 yrs. old and not a day goes by I don’t think of him. While I was out we keep his graves decorated and kept up my husband and family do while I’m here.