NYC Woman Faces Misdemeanor Charge for Self-Abortion, Discards Fetus in Garbage
The New York City mother of a dead newborn, found in a garbage can wrapped in plastic bags in an alleyway next to the young woman’s building, was charged with self-abortion.
Yaribely Almonte, 20, faces a class A misdemeanor charge in first-degree self-abortion for the death of her female fetus, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to reporters on Thursday. Sources claim the pregnancy was about 24 weeks along. That is the allowable lawful limit between a first-degree and second-degree misdemeanor.
The superintendent made the discovery while looking for recyclables at the woman’s 191st street building. The super found the fetus inside a box that was buried beneath other trash bags inside a bin, said the super's son to DNAinfo.
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The charge, which carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail, applies to a woman who "commits or submits to an abortional act upon herself which causes her miscarriage, unless such abortional act is justifiable." The charge has caused heated debated from both sides of the issue.
“It’s absolutely outlandish to charge her with self-abortion,” said Sonia Ossoria, a director of the National Organization for Women in New York. “Everyone would be better served if the D.A.’s office dropped this and instead tried to find some services to help her heal. These are really scary times for pregnant women; this is dangerous territory for law enforcement.”
According to DNAinfo, sources said the woman, who has a 3-year-old daughter, told police she drank herbal tea and then delivered a stillborn baby.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said the woman should be prosecuted but sentencing should be replaced with counseling.
Donohue, an outspoken advocate on abortion said: “The idea that any woman would perform her own abortion and then discard her baby in a dumpster is enough to make most people sick.”
“But where is the outrage over well-heeled doctors who perform the exact same procedure every day,” Donohue added.
