U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) has weighed in on a manslaughter case in Alabama where a woman was charged in the death of her unborn child, after she was shot in the stomach.
Marshae Jones, who was 5 months pregnant when she was shot, initiated the fight, and because she did, a grand jury indicted Jones for the crime.
Jones’ attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the charges, citing “an irrational theory” for why the charges were brought.
Wasserman Schultz tweeted a response to a tweet Cecile Richard – the former head of Planned Parenthood – posted, where she asserted that laws like the one in Alabama that aim to protect the life of an unborn child are merely laws that have “always been about punishing, demonizing and criminalizing black, brown, and low-income women.”
Wasserman Schultz’s response echoed Richards’ play of the race and gender cards, noting that the case in Alabama was simply about the color of a woman’ skin.
“The criminalization of pregnant women, especially women of color, is a reproductive justice issue,” noted Wasserman Schultz.
The woman who was first charged with manslaughter, but then saw the charges against her dropped, is Ebony Jemison, another black woman.
