STORM2K

By LILLIAN RUIZ and LARA SETRAKIAN,
ABC Law & Justice Unit

Oct. 19, 2006 — Tammy Skinner was a poor, desperate 22-year-old with two young children and another one on the way.
She said her boyfriend wouldn't pay for an abortion, so she carried her pregnancy to term.

Then she did the unthinkable.

Prosecutors say that on the morning she was scheduled to give birth, Skinner drove to an auto dealer's parking lot, took a gun, and shot herself in the belly, killing the fetus in an act of self-abortion.

Skinner was charged with carrying out an illegal abortion.

Today, her case is in a Virginia courtroom, where a circuit court judge will consider whether she can be prosecuted for shooting her unborn child.

Is Skinner a criminal?

The law in question states that it is illegal to administer or cause an illegal abortion on an expectant mother.

However, Skinner's defense lawyer, Kevin Martingayle, argues that the law does not make it a crime for a mother to cause her own abortion.

In May 2006, a general district court dismissed Skinner's case, agreeing with Martingayle's argument.

If someone else had pulled the trigger, he or she would be criminally accountable. Because it was the pregnant woman herself, no crime was committed, the court ruled.

But the Commonwealth of Virginia filed a direct indictment against Skinner, putting her case back in the courtroom.

Skinner's case has legal analysts scratching their heads and anti-abortion activists pounding their fists.

To those activists, this is an unequivocal case of murder coupled with a failure of the courts to catch it.

In an online article, Keith Fournier, a Catholic deacon in Richmond, Va., wrote that equates Skinner's case with the abortion movement as a whole. He criticized, in particular, the fact that Skinner's earlier charges had been dropped.

"This case reveals all the evil fangs on the evil face of legal abortion on demand," Fournier said.


I am PRO-Choice........ but this IS a criminal act. This woman waited until the very last minute before birth to "self-abort". If she had done this the very day she found out she was pregnant, say at 3-4 weeks, I would feel sympathy..... but not as it happened. She could just have given the baby up to the one of the many numerous couples desparate to be parents!!! As sad as this is.....prosecute her.

A quick, early warning -- let's not let this turn ugly. Abortion debates can get pretty nasty. Keep it to opinions about the incident in the article.



I don't see where it says how far along she is. I'm pro-life all the way. If she committed the act just before she was due, that would make it a late-term abortion, right? Last I heard, those weren't legal? However, if it was early in the pregnancy, the law states abortion is legal. Although I disagree with it, it's my guess that the law is on her side.


Edit -- duh, nevermind. The first paragraph says it all: "carried her pregnancy to term." Yup, prosecute her....

I didn't mean to start any type of abortion debate issue here......sorry. I guess the point I was actually trying to make is that she waited until her actual DUE DATE to do this act. I was looking at the legal issue, as opposed to the moral issue. Although I respect those who believe there is not a distinction between the moral and legal issue. Duckie, I wish this were a world were abortion was not necessary.... how's that?

I agree with you Grim...no further comment as I don't want this to get into a debate either

where a circuit court judge will consider whether she can be prosecuted

Huh?

Seems like a no-brainer. This woman should get the death penalty or spend life in prison for murder.

I'm saddened that this little baby was killed, and by her own mother!!

Here's a point...... desparate people do terrible desparate acts. This woman felt she had no other choice. Mental health acceptance and assistance in this country is NON existant!! If people were more open and compassionate about mental health, I beleive scenarios like this would happen far less!!!!

Grimmy, I know you weren't. It's cool so far. I was just offering an early warning so things don't get out of hand.

GrimReaper wrote:Here's a point...... desparate people do terrible desparate acts. This woman felt she had no other choice. Mental health acceptance and assistance in this country is NON existant!! If people were more open and compassionate about mental health, I beleive scenarios like this would happen far less!!!!

I agree and I also don't get why she waited until her due date. She probably was pretty desparate.

GrimReaper wrote:Here's a point...... desparate people do terrible desparate acts. This woman felt she had no other choice. Mental health acceptance and assistance in this country is NON existant!! If people were more open and compassionate about mental health, I beleive scenarios like this would happen far less!!!!

It's amazing to think about how much better our country would be if people had a basic understanding of how the mind works.

Psychology, taught by a professional, should be required for graduation from high school.

Of course, my feelings on what should be taught in high schools is for a completely different thread.

I agree...she was desperate. Look what horrible thing she did! Does that make it a legitimate excuse? Of course not.
So her boyfriend wouldn't pay for her to kill her child earlier in the pregnancy and that drove her to shoot her baby in her stomach when she was at full term? Man, she REALLY didn't want that little baby to have a chance at life. She could have given her/him away. It's sad and cruel beyond words. She can join the likes of Susan Smith and the other selfish people who put themselves before the life of an innocent other.

Stories like this just make me sick.

Well, I'll refrain from starting an abortion debate, but you can probably guess my opinion

Anyway, I'd say that this woman murdered someone because the baby was about to be born. Now I'm not saying that she should get a very harsh punishment, because it's pretty obvious this woman was desperate, but as others before me have said, there are other ways to solve such a situation. Some sort of punishment would be in order, but it might be a good idea to give her some help too, otherwise she'll probably just do it again.

I would vote for temporary insanity based on the facts presented. To do what she did to herself was an act of suicide for her and the baby. The stress of a single woman raising two children and pregnant had to be great. I sense that her anger at the father of the baby may have had something to do with aiming the pistol to her abdomen. I wonder if her religious convictions were causing additional psychological stress.

This is murder. Weather you are for or against abortion. This was NOT an abortion. She killed her baby.. Her anger towards the boyfriend, her anger at our health system? What about anger towards herself? This was her own fault more then anyone elses.

What she did was just wrong.


I am not excusing what she did, but it seems like people do not just wake up and commit horrible acts on a whim, there are usually signs and it makes you wonder where were those people that cared about her, or was there just noone. She needs serious psychiatric (sp) help

burn her at the stake

and no, I am NOT joking. I have ZERO tolerance for pieces of trash like that

Sure she needs phychiactric help.. Anyone that can commit MURDER needs help.. Right along side serious jail time

Chad your right the way I wrote it, it is obvious. I meant it in the way that we prosecute and punish people then put them back out on the streets without getting them the mental help they need to not be a danger to themselves or others once they are out. I know that this is not the case with everyone some people are just plain evil. It seems to me however this is one of those cases of someone who was long overdue for help to begin with and maybe it could have been prevented.

True Zoeyann.. The first thing that could of prevented it was her and her boyfriend taking the steps to make sure you do not get pregnant in the first place.

The following is Grim on the soap box:

You know, I really wanted this topic opened, not so much to discuss whether or not we are pro-choice, or pro-life. I guess I wanted people to take the time to think about how we can stop the "need" for women ever getting to the desparate act of abortion. The pro-life movement with all their religious fanaticism, condemnation, and physical violence of it's own does NOT help women in crisis make a better decision about their pregnancies. That's why I do not believe in the current "pro-life" movement. I'd like to see a "pro-birth" movement that offers to women in crisis pregnancies unconditional support, whether they choose to keep their babies, or make the heroic choice to give them up for adoption. However in the end, I still believe it is the woman herself that has to make the final decision, especially in cases of rape or incest. As a woman, I know I would never carry a pregnancy born of rape. Okay, I've stepped off my box now... who's next.

The thing is this story really has nothing to do with abortion.. What took place was NOT abortion