Bei Bei Shuai () is a Chinese immigrant to the United States who became the subject of international public attention from 2011 to 2013, when the authorities of the state of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
charged her with
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
and attempted
feticide
Foeticide (British English), or feticide (American and Canadian English), is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage.
Etymology
Foeticide derives from two constituent Latin roots. ''Foetus'', meaning child, is an alternate form of ...
after her
suicide attempt
A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide res ...
allegedly resulted in the death of the fetus with which she was pregnant. In Britain, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described Shuai's case, as well as those of other women who lose their pregnancies in cases of maternal drug addiction or a suicide attempt, as part of a "creeping criminalisation of pregnancy across America".
Suicide attempt
Shuai, a
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
native, immigrated to the U.S. in the early 2000s with her then-husband. Years later, she entered into an affair with an also married coworker. By late 2010, after her marriage fell apart, she became pregnant by that same man. After their breakup and a severe depression, Shuai attempted suicide by taking
rat poison
Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, squirrels, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Despite ...
. She survived, but the fetus died on 3 January 2011 – 33 weeks after her conception, ten days after the poisoning and two days after her birth in an emergency
cesarean section
Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...
.
Criminal proceedings
On 14 March 2011, Shuai was charged with the murder and attempted feticide of her child, and was jailed for 435 days.
In May 2012, the
Indiana Supreme Court
The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana ...
declined to dismiss the charges against her, but allowed her release on bail.
Shuai declined a
plea deal
A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or ''nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendant ...
that would have her plead guilty to the feticide charge (with a sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment) in return for the withdrawal of the murder charge. She faced a trial for murder with a possible sentence of 45 years to life imprisonment. In June, the prosecution filed a motion to admonish her lawyer, Linda Pence, for prejudicing the potential jury pool by conducting a public campaign for the support of her client. This caused alarm among defense lawyers nationwide, one of whom criticized the motion as a possible attempt at intimidation or to prevent Pence from raising money for her client; chief prosecutor Terry Curry denied this.
In 2013 Shuai
pled guilty to a
misdemeanor
A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...
charge of
criminal recklessness and was released, having been sentenced to
time served
In criminal law, time served is an informal term that describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served on bail but ...
. Prosecutor Terry Curry said of the law under which she was initially charged for murder: "There was never any intention to monitor pregnancies."
Legal context
Shuai's case was the first in the history of Indiana in which a woman was prosecuted for murder due to a pregnancy loss after a suicide attempt while pregnant.
The feticide statute under which she was also prosecuted was intended, when enacted in 1979, to cover acts by violent third parties such as abusive boyfriends and drunk drivers.
Women's groups in the U.S. warned that Shuai's prosecution could set a precedent for criminalizing a pregnant woman's actions, such as smoking or drinking, or having a
miscarriage
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...
.
At least 38 U.S. states have similar "
fetal homicide" laws, which are increasingly used to prosecute the pregnant women themselves.
Recent similar cases in other states include that of
Rennie Gibbs (charged with murder in
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
for having a
stillborn
Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term i ...
daughter while addicted to cocaine) and at least 40 cases of pregnant women charged in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
under a "
chemical endangerment" statute originally intended to protect children from the fumes of illicit
meth lab
A rolling meth lab is a transportable laboratory that is used to illegally produce methamphetamine.Staff writerMethamphetamine, meth-lab assessment and clean-up" ''Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies Inc.'' Retrieved on 2009-02-14. Ro ...
s run by their parents.
See also
*
Purvi Patel
Purvi Patel (born c. 1982) is an Indian American whose conviction and sentence to 20 years in prison in Indiana for feticide and child neglect was overturned by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The court pointed out that the lower court's ruling had ...
References
External links
Court opinion regarding denial of bail covering a variety of details in the case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuai, Bei Bei
Living people
United States abortion law
Chinese emigrants to the United States
Legal history of Indiana
21st-century Chinese women
21st-century Chinese people
People from Shanghai
Legal issues in pregnancy
Year of birth missing (living people)