Woman on self abortion charge
A jury has been chosen to hear the case against the first woman in American history to be tried on charges of performing an abortion on herself, reports NZPA from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Marla Elaine Pitchford, aged 22, is being prosecuted under a State law allowing only licensed doctors to perform abortions and, if convicted, she could be sentenced to 10 to 20 years jail.
Miss Pitchford stared at the courtroom floor while the jury was selected, occasionally holding her head and wiping tears from her eyes. Her trial is being viewed as a national test case involving women’s rights. Representatives of several feminist organisations were in the courtroom.
“The charge against Marla Pitchford is a violation ’of every woman’s right,” said Helen Kuester, of the National Organisation of Women. Miss Pitchford’s lawyers said they planned to base their case on a plea of temporary insanity. They said the trial was unique.
“This is the first time in the nation’s history that a woman has been tried for performing an abortion on herself,” said a Public Defender. Flora Stewart. Miss Pitchford was indicted on June 14 bv a Warren County grand iury on charges of manslaughter and performing an illegal abortion on June 9, when she was five to six months pregnant.
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Press, 30 August 1978, Page 1
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217Woman on self abortion charge Press, 30 August 1978, Page 1
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