A 21-year-old Oklahoma woman was found guilty of first degree manslaughter after she suffered a miscarriage in 2020.
Brittany Poolaw was 17 weeks pregnant when she lost her baby January 4, 2020. She admitted to medical officials at Comanche County Memorial Hospital that she had used marijuana and meth. Poolaw’s baby was stillborn, and an autopsy confirmed the baby tested positive for both drugs.
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The report of the medical examiner listed the unborn child’s cause of death as intrauterine fetal demise due to maternal meth use, the Lawton Constitution reported. However, an OBGYN testified at the trial for the state that the drugs may not have directly caused of death for the fetus. The National Advocates for Pregnant Women say, “Not even the medical examiner’s report identifies use of controlled substances as the cause of the miscarriage,” the organization said in the statement. “Even with this lack of evidence, the prosecutor moved forward with the charge.”
“Oklahoma’s murder and manslaughter laws do not apply to miscarriages, which are pregnancy losses that occur before 20 weeks, a point in pregnancy before a fetus is viable (able to survive outside of the womb),” said the NAPW, a non-profit advocacy organization, on Wednesday in a statement.
Under the Oklahoma law, a mother cannot be prosecuted for causing the death of their unborn child “unless the mother committed a crime” that caused its death.
Poolaw was sentenced to 4 years in prison.
