Controversial Case in Supreme Court

A woman convicted of endangering her unborn child says she should not have been prosecuted fo...  More »

A woman convicted of endangering her unborn child says she should not have been prosecuted for the crime... The andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/north-dakotaandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;North Dakotaandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt; andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/supreme-courtandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;Supreme Courtandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt; is considering Michelle Geiser Behles' appeal. Authorities say Gieser overdosed on andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/prescription-drugsandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;prescription drugsandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt; in October 2007. She was more than seven months pregnant and her unborn child died. Her attorney, Thomas Glass says North Dakota's child endangerment law does not apply in this case. He says the term child in this law does not include or exclude an unborn child... (Thomas Glass / Geiser's attorney) andamp;quot;If the legislature wanted to include the definition of child as something other than under the age of 18. I think the would be better suited to address that. (Chief Justice Gerald Vande Walle) andamp;quot;They say a child conceived and not born is to be deemed an existing person. So they have addressed that but you may say that's not applicable.andamp;quot; Glass says if Geiser is guilty of child endangerment then authorities would have to investigate all stillbirths and miscarriages to make sure nothing illegal happened. andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/mclean-county-ndandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;McLean Countyandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt; States Attorney, Ladd Erickson, says he doesn't buy that arguement nor does he think the law would encourage pregnant drug users to abort rather than face prosecution... (Ladd Erickson / McLean Co. Attny) andamp;quot;I sense the courts concern my question is civics the legislature put this in place for a child. It's not my position to say that is limited to a born child. If legislature uses the term child and not fetus or unborn, if they want it to be included then that's what should be included first.andamp;quot; The Supreme Court will make a decission on the case later. Regardless of their ruling Ladd Erickson says the legislature should clear up the child endangerment law specifically saying if unborn children are covered or not.  « Less