Wisconsin Woman Who Nearly Became Forced Abortion Victim Loses Money
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 8, 2008
Appleton, WI (LifeNews.com) — The Wisconsin woman who nearly became a victim of a forced abortion will not receive any more financial restitution in the case. Darshana Patel, 39, received a spiked drink from her boyfriend Manishkumar Patel, who laced it with a dangerous abortion drug to try to cause her baby’s death.
Manish Patel, no relation to Darshana, appears to have fled the country back to his native India after posting $750,000 in bond that he raised from friends, family and businesses associates.
Outagamie County Circuit Judge John Des Jardins agreed to give Darshana $6,200 but held off on providing other funds because of further paperwork needed to make the rest of the expenses part of the court record.
On Tuesday, Darshana’s attorney, former state attorney general Peg Lautenschlager, said the requirements put in place by the court make it so Darshana will not be able to seek any more restitution, even though she’d had to take extra security measures to protect herself with Manish on the lam.
According to the Appleton Crescent, Darshana told the court during this latest hearing that Manish Patel ruined her financially.
“This was an abusive relationship for 10 years,” she said. “He used all my money for his businesses. When we met he was working at the Northern Inn as a clerk.”
Lautenschlager said the kind of losses Darshana incurred are hard to quantify in a way that satisfies the court’s guidelines and the newspaper indicated Darshana complained during the hearing.
"I was obligated to pay to save my credit and now all this restitution is going towards the county,” she said.
As a result, Outagamie County will keep the $664,811 that remains of the bond after some of Manish’s relatives who put up the bond money received reimbursements as well.
In January, Judge Jardins ruled Manish Patel has given up the rights associated with the bail money.
There is still no information on Manish Patel’s whereabouts.
Criminal charges in connection with the case will stay open until he returns or is extradited back to the United States to face trial. He has been charged with attempted first-degree homicide of an unborn child, six other felonies and two misdemeanors.
He is accused of obtaining the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug from India and putting it in Darshana’s drink.
Officials say Patel has attempted to contact Darshana repeatedly since fleeing.
Darshana never drank the concoction but turned it over to authorities after suspecting foul play. Tests revealed the presence of the mifepristone abortion drug.
The first crime is a result of a law pro-life advocates pushed for to provide protection and justice for pregnant women and their unborn children when they are victims of attack.
Wisconsin’s Fetal Homicide Law was enacted in 1998.
The law recognizes unborn children as separate victims when they are killed or injured as the result of violence directed toward the unborn child’s mother or the unborn child by a third party. The law applies regardless of the gestational age of the unborn child.
According to the National Right to Life Committee, 36 states recognize the unlawful killing of an unborn child as homicide in at least some circumstances. Some 26 of those laws protect pregnant women and their unborn children throughout pregnancy and another 10 offer justice only after viability.
The abortion drug has been responsible for killing 14 women worldwide and injuring another 1,100 in the United States alone.
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