Woman Not Guilty in Fetal Abuse Case

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled in May of 1999 in a case that a woman who tried to get so drunk the day she gave birth she could "kill this thing" was not guilty of any crime.

Authorities had argued that Deborah Zimmerman should be prosecuted for attempted murder based on the state's "born alive" rule, which says a person can be charged with murder if he or she harms a pregnant woman and her fetus is born alive and then dies. Prosecutors argued that the law should be extended to attempted murder if a fetus is born with injuries but survives.

But the court ruled Zimmerman cannot be charged with attempted homicide because an unborn child is not a human being. Laws intended to protect people don't apply to fetuses, the court said.

"The term ' human being' was not intended to refer to an unborn child and Deborah's prenatal conduct does not constitute attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless injury," the court ruled.

Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said the state appeals court is "behind the times" because Wisconsin has passed laws to protect fetuses. "The court of appeals showed disregard not only for the law, but disregard for right and wrong. ... The court seems to be saying that if they can't see the baby then it' s not a baby," said Mary Matuska, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin.

Going to "Kill This Thing"

Earlier Wisconsin's Supreme Court split 3-3 over whether women can be criminally charged for alcohol abuse that harms a fetus. The tie sent the issue back to the state Court of Appeals, which earlier had passed it along to the high court without ruling.

Deborah Zimmerman was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless injury after her daughter was born March 16, 1996, with a 0.199 percent blood-alcohol level[/link]. At the hospital, Zimmerman told a nurse: "I'm just going to go home and keep drinking and drink myself to death and I'm going to kill this thing because I don't want it anyways, " court records said.

She was seeking to have the charges dropped. The case reached the appeals court and then the Supreme Court after a Circuit judge refused to dismiss the charges.

Prosecutors said she had been at a bar the day she gave birth to her daughter, and that she said at the hospital later that day she had been drinking to "kill this thing."

In her appeal, Zimmerman said her abuse of alcohol during pregnancy was directed toward her own body and the fetus she carried - not another human being.

The case has been closely watched by civil libertarians and abortion-rights groups. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin filed a court brief on Zimmerman's behalf, and the New York-based abortion-rights group Center for Reproductive Law and Policy handled her legal defense.

The girl, now 3 and in foster care, had a low birthweight and mild physical abnormalities that doctors attributed to her mother's drinking, prosecutors said.

Zimmerman remains jailed while awaiting resolution of the case.

Alcohol and Pregnancy
Some experts say moderate drinking during pregnancy is okay, but there are others who believe taking even one drink is like playing Russian Roulette with your baby's health.

Health Issues
Long-term drinking can bring about a myraid of related health problems.