Facts over Fear: Georgia Woman Charged for Actions, not Miscarriage

         On the early morning of March 20th in rural Georgia a 911 call was placed about an unconscious, bleeding woman in her apartment. Selena Maria Chandler-Scott had tragically suffered a miscarriage. A witness reported that Selena had taken the baby’s body and thrown it in a dumpster. Police investigated and found the remains of what was later determined to be a 19 week old fetus. Chandler-Scott was subsequently charged with concealing the death of another person and abandoning a dead body. The charges were eventually dropped. At no time was Chandler-Scott charged with having a miscarriage. Georgia has no law that charges a woman for such tragedy.

Georgia’s 6 week abortion ban, the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, recognizes any unborn child with a heartbeat as a legal person under the law. This law allows for care of miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. No one who holds a pro-life view wants to see this care taken away or women charged in these situations. Georgia laws does however, require that the death of a person be reported and properly investigated. Chandler-Scott failed to do this and was charged for those offenses. She was never going to face legal ramifications for the miscarriage itself but, how she disposed of the child’s remains after.

Pro-Choice lobbyists and lawmakers continue to misrepresent cases like this to push the narrative that pro-life and anti-abortion laws are inherently dangerous. They paint those with pro-life views to be anti-woman and against women’s healthcare when nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is the misrepresentation of the law and facts that push women to be scared to seek care in cases of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. Selena Maria Chandler-Scott’s case shows how pro-choice rhetoric can twist the truth. Georgia’s LIFE Act never targeted her miscarriage, only her actions after. By misrepresenting such cases, pro-choice advocates scare women away from care, not pro-life laws. Honesty, not fear mongering, is what women need.