A judge Wednesday called for Purvi Patel whose conviction of feticide has been overturned to be released from an Indiana prison immediately, reports the Guardian.
UPDATE: Patel was released Thursday
Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hurley resentenced Patel on a charge of neglect of a dependent to 18 months which is less time than she’s already served.
This after her conviction of killing a premature infant by taking abortion-inducing drugs was overturned two months ago.
Defense attorneys argued Indian’s feticide law was passed to stop third parties from killing unborn infants and not to go after woman who self-induced an abortion.
Prosecutions said the fetus was 25 weeks old, just beyond what they considered the threshold for viability.
Patel’s case has been seen as a landmark ruling in the ongoing debate over legalized abortions. This was the first time a woman in Indiana was convicted under the state’s feticide law for a self-induced abortion.
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