One of the saddest and most gruesome stories of the week is this account of a Virginia woman who shot herself in the stomach the very day she was supposed to give birth. Because the baby hadn't "drawn a breath," prosecutors decided they couldn't charge the woman with homicide so they opted for the substantially weaker charge of illegally inducing an abortion.
But the judge nixed even that, saying that because the "abortion" was self induced, he saw no reason to go ahead with the case and dismissed it.
Oh, there was one other charge. The 22 year old woman had initially called police from a car dealership. She claimed to have been abducted by an armed stranger who shot her in the stomach and then dumped her. Since her account turned out to be completely fabricated, the woman was found guilty of making a false police report and given a 30-day sentence but...the sentence was suspended. It looks like no further action will be taken.
