A Mississippi judge ruled on Thursday that the state has no legitimate murder case against a 24-year-old woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby after using cocaine during her pregnancy.
Gibbs' case is part of a wave of "fetal harm" cases in which women are prosecuted when their babies are born with traces of drugs in their system. Reproductive rights advocates argue that criminalizing pregnant women for having miscarriages and stillborn babies is just another strategy the anti-abortion movement is using to make laws recognize the legal personhood rights of fetuses.
Lowndes County Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens dismissed Gibbs' case on Thursday, saying there was no law in Mississippi that clearly applied. He pointed to a recent Supreme Court case, Mississippi v. Buckhalter, in which manslaughter charges were dismissed against another woman who had given birth to a stillborn baby after taking drugs while she was pregnant.
"Gibbs was indicted prior to Buckhalter and the law was unclear in Mississippi as to the appropriate charge, if any, to be levied when a pregnant woman allegedly consumed illegal drugs and allegedly caused the death of her unborn child," Kitchens said in the ruling.
Gibbs' case is part of a wave of "fetal harm" cases in which women are prosecuted when their babies are born with traces of drugs in their system. Reproductive rights advocates argue that criminalizing pregnant women for having miscarriages and stillborn babies is just another strategy the anti-abortion movement is using to make laws recognize the legal personhood rights of fetuses.
Mississippi District Attorney Mark Jackson said the state would attempt to try Gibbs' case again in August.
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