Teenager in "Baseball Bat" Abortion Case May Have Had Miscarriage

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 3, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Teenager in "Baseball Bat" Abortion Case May Have Had Miscarriage

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 3, 2005

Mount Clemens, MI (LifeNews.com) — The teenage girl in the Michigan "baseball bat" abortion case may have suffered a miscarriage and not had her unborn child killed as a result of weeks worth of "beatings" with a miniature baseball bat, defense attorneys say.

Defense attorneys told the court that the 16 year-old girl participated in her high school’s powder puff football game only days before she delivered the dead baby. They say it gives reasonable doubt that her boyfriend killed the child.

Attorneys for the boy charged with assault on a pregnant woman submitted a request for the charges to be dismissed. They say the boy can’t be charged because the girl consented to the beatings and they also allege the beatings did not cause the death of the unborn child.

"Even at this early stage in the proceedings, it is clear that the prosecution will not be able to meet its burden on the second element of the offense, the causation of (the girl)’s miscarriage," defense motions filed with the Macomb County Juvenile Court state.

The defense says the teenager fell hard to the ground in one of the football games just days before the miscarriage.

Macomb County chief assistant prosecutor Ben Liston told the Macomb Daily newspaper that he is planning to respond to the defense’s claims this week with court filings of their own.

A hearing has been set for March 29 to weigh the motions.

The boyfriend, whose name has not been released, has been charged under a state law allowing those who assault a woman and kill or injure her unborn child to be charged with two crimes.

If convicted, the 16 year-old could find himself under the supervision of juvenile court until he is 21. The girl faces no charges in the case, since the law only allows charges against the assailant.

He hit the girl with the bat over the course of two weeks to kill the 6 month-old developing unborn child.

The baby boy was miscarried on October 4 and police found the body buried in the backyard of the boyfriend’s house.

Defense attorney Miranda Massie has come under fire for suggesting that laws against abortion prompted the teen couple to do what they did.

"The bottom line is this: if this country keeps rolling back freedom of choice and rolling back abortion rights, what you’re going to see is more children attempting to perform back alley abortions on themselves," she said.