Rennie Gibbs, a Mississippi woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby at the age of 16, has been accused of murder after it was found she’d taken cocaine during her pregnancy.
The prosecution is now charging her with “depraved-heart murder” – a legal term under Mississippi law applied to an action believed to show a "callous disregard for human life" and results in death.
Her little girl, Samiya, was born a month premature, arriving with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. On inspection, the medical examiner discovered traces of benzoylecgonine in Samiya’s blood, which is a by-product of cocaine.
Rennie’s defence team has experts who maintain little Samiya’s tragic death was as a result of the “umbilical cord compression”. They also maintain that there is no hard evidence that proves using cocaine during pregnancy can cause “serious foetal harm”.
The definition of foetal harm in past cases like this has been very broad. In one instance, a woman who attempted suicide while pregnant was forced to spend a year in jail before murder charges were dropped last year. On another occasion, a woman who refused to sign a pre-authorisation form for a caesarean section was charged with child endangerment. The mum didn’t need the operation in the end, but still lost custody of her baby.
The majority of these cases have centred around women suspected of using illegal drugs and most of those women have been young, low-income and African American.
As Rennie Gibbs faces life in prison, her team argue that there is no law that says a woman can’t smoke, drink or take drugs while pregnant and therefore the case should be dismissed.
This story has led to wide public discussion in America, with debaters asking if the loss of a baby is enough pain to go through without apportioning blame or are there times when it's right to pursue the mum for her choices?
Whatever the outcome of this case, it really is such a tragic story with no winners.
