SeekingJana
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I am concerned over implications of the broad, sweeping statements being made in TX MSM today over the State Law proposal to add " Post Partum Depression"(I really think they mean Post Partum Psychosis) as a legit. defense for infanticide. If the bill passes, Texas will be the first state in the USA to have an " infanticide law".
Of course, the Andrea Yates case was the spotlight case which brought the possibility of using this as a valid defense. It's just now hitting the courts.
Here's the article that addresses it most.
Date is today 3/22. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6330186.html
Snipped from the article:
DALLAS Postpartum mental disorder could be used as a legal defense for women who kill their children under a bill introduced in the Texas Legislature.
The bill was filed this month by Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, and it applies to women who commit the crime within a year of giving birth, The Dallas Morning News reported in Sunday editions. If jurors find a mother guilty of murder, they could take testimony about postpartum issues into consideration during the trial's punishment phase.
If jurors find that the woman's judgment was impaired because of childbirth or lactation, they could judge her guilty of infanticide, a state jail felony that would carry a maximum punishment of two years in jail.
Much more at link.
What this indicates to me is that instead of allowing PPD to reach the stage of PPP and infanticide, the medical system should have the added responsibility to screen women for one year after they give birth.
WHY not try to prevent and treat PPD instead of simply allowing a defense into the courts after a child or children are dead??
Of course, the Andrea Yates case was the spotlight case which brought the possibility of using this as a valid defense. It's just now hitting the courts.
Here's the article that addresses it most.
Date is today 3/22. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6330186.html
Snipped from the article:
DALLAS Postpartum mental disorder could be used as a legal defense for women who kill their children under a bill introduced in the Texas Legislature.
The bill was filed this month by Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, and it applies to women who commit the crime within a year of giving birth, The Dallas Morning News reported in Sunday editions. If jurors find a mother guilty of murder, they could take testimony about postpartum issues into consideration during the trial's punishment phase.
If jurors find that the woman's judgment was impaired because of childbirth or lactation, they could judge her guilty of infanticide, a state jail felony that would carry a maximum punishment of two years in jail.
Much more at link.
What this indicates to me is that instead of allowing PPD to reach the stage of PPP and infanticide, the medical system should have the added responsibility to screen women for one year after they give birth.
WHY not try to prevent and treat PPD instead of simply allowing a defense into the courts after a child or children are dead??