Anna Yocca: Tennessee; The coat hanger abortion is back, and that’s scary for all women. If a woman can be charged with attempted murder for trying to give herself an abortion, what stops police from investigating miscarriages? "The coat hanger is just the beginning; To be sure, it's shocking to see a new case of a "coat hanger abortion" — the symbol of pre–Roe v. Wade America, when women died or were maimed by the thousands every year because they were that desperate to end their unwanted pregnancies. "I never thought I would hear of a coat hanger abortion in my medical life,"" writes OB-GYN Jen Gunter. "But here's the most alarming part of Yocca's case: Abortion is still legal in America. Yocca is being prosecuted as if it weren't. She is being charged with attempted first-degree murder. That's a dangerous legal precedent for all pregnant women." (Must Read. HL);

STORY: "The coat hanger abortion is back, and that’s scary for all women," by reporter Emily Crockett, published by Vox on December 23, 2015.

SUB-HEADING: "If a woman  can be charged with attempted murder for trying to give herself an abortion, what stops police from investigating miscarriages?

GIST: "A Tennessee woman was charged with attempted first-degree murder last week for allegedly trying to use a coat hanger to end her pregnancy. Anna Yocca, 31, was arrested in Tennessee in September after she showed up bleeding at a hospital, fearing for her health and safety. She gave birth to a very premature baby boy, who was just 24 weeks along and weighed one and a half pounds.

It's a tragic case. The baby has severe health problems, as most infants born that early do, and will likely require oxygen for the rest of his life. And whatever drove Yocca to try to end her pregnancy herself, it probably involved serious desperation if she was willing to take her chances by sticking a sharp metal object into her cervix. But this story is about a lot more than one woman and one child. It's even about more than America's dwindling access to safe, legal abortion. This story has horrifying implications for all pregnant women, even those who don't want an abortion. It shows how any woman can be treated like a criminal if law enforcement decides to take an interest in her pregnancy. The coat hanger is  just the beginning;  To be sure, it's shocking to see a new case of a "coat hanger abortion" — the symbol of pre–Roe v. Wade America, when women died or were maimed by the thousands every year because they were that desperate to end their unwanted pregnancies. "I never thought I would hear of a coat hanger abortion in my medical life," writes OB-GYN Jen Gunter. Pro-choice advocates fear that more women will try to self-induce abortions at home, since a skyrocketing number of state-level abortion restrictions have made the procedure much harder to access in the past five years......... Abortion is still legal in America, but Yocca is being prosecuted as if it weren't We don't know what motivated Yocca's decision, but these restrictions definitely make it harder for women to access abortion. Research suggests that the more restricted abortion is, the more often women take matters into their own hands. But here's the most alarming part of Yocca's case: Abortion is still legal in America. Yocca is being prosecuted as if it weren't. She is being charged with attempted first-degree murder. That's a dangerous legal precedent for all pregnant women."
http://www.vox.com/2015/12/23/10656860/coat-hanger-abortion-pregnancy-murder