About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

17 J. Gender Race & Just. 221 (2014)
Bei Bei Shuai: Pregnancy, Murder, and Mayhen in Indiana

handle is hein.journals/jgrj17 and id is 249 raw text is: Bei Bei Shuai: Pregnancy, Murder, and Mayhem in Indiana Geneva Brown* I. INTRODUCTION Indiana broke new ground in becoming the first state to charge a suicidal pregnant woman with attempted feticide and murder. Bei Bei Shuai committed the legal act of attempting suicide. Her action may also be murder under Indiana law, because her attempted suicide caused the death of her fetus.' Like several other states, Indiana crafted feticide statutes to increase penalties when a third party act of violence caused the death of a fetus.2 However, in the case of Bei Bei Shuai, Indiana has now turned feticide laws against the mother who suffered the loss of the fetus. Because the State charged Shuai with murder and attempted feticide, she must now convince twelve jurors that it was never her intent to kill her fetus without taking her own life.3 Shuai claims she never intended to kill her fetus and live. An Indiana jury may not embrace her defense. These charges, and the possibility of more like them, will lead to disturbing outcomes. The rise and expansion of fetal rights and feticide statutes pits the well- being of the fetus against the pregnant woman. The fetus evolves into an independent entity within a woman's uterus. The live birth requirement is no longer the legal threshold to recognize fetal legal protections. Fetal rights initially developed as neonatal medicine became able to sustain the lives of prematurely born fetuses at earlier periods in pregnancies.4 Civil law began * I would like to acknowledge Julie Smith and Linda Pence, the defense attorneys for Bei Bei Shuai, for their courageous work. I would like to thank the Valparaiso University School of Law faculty present at my work-in-progress. The insight and ideas generated from the feedback I received was invaluable. I would also like to thank Valparaiso University School of Law Librarian Sally Holterhoff for the research in the areas of Indiana legislative history. Lastly, I would like to thank the editors of the Journal of Gender, Race & Justice for their patience and hard work. 1. See Defendant's Memorandum of Law In Support of Motion to Dismiss at 4, State v. Bei Bei Shuai (Mar. 30, 2011) (No. 49003-1103-MR-014478), available at https://www.aclu.org/repro ductive-freedom/state-indiana-v-bei-bei-shuai-memorandum-law-support-motion-dismiss. 2. See infra Part III.A. 3. IND. CODE § 35-42-1-1 (2013) (Indiana murder charge requires proof of knowledge or intent to kill). 4. Id.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most