KAWANA ASHLEY
Killed Her Baby
by John Lightner
EDITOR:
In St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 27, 1994, Kawana Ashley fired a
bullet
into her womb, fatally injuring the fetus, because she could not afford
an
abortion.
Kawana attempted to procure an abortion at George Nauert's St. Petersburg
Women's Health Care Clinic, Inc. She did not have the money that the
clinic demanded for the procedure so she chose another option.
Asley told a friend she would "just shoot herself in the stomach". Her
friend said she did not take her seriously.
At approximately 10:50 a.m. on March 27th, Ashely fired a .22 caliber
pistol into the right side of her womb and fatally injured her 24
week-old
fetus (Herald Tribune, 9-10-94)
According to court records, Ashley originally claimed that she was shot
in
a drive-by shooting. Police later learned that Kawana Ashley had placed
a
pillow over her abdomen prior to shooting herself and the bullet had
traveled from the right side of her abdomen to the left side of her
abdomen, ultimately passing through the wrist of the fetus. The fetus
was
born live and was named Brittany Ashley. Brittany died, however, on
April
11, 1994. According to records, the medical examiner who conducted an
autopsy believed the child's death was a homicide. Kawana Ashley
accomplished what she had set out to do. Her baby was indeed dead.
The state attorney's office brought charges of manslaughter and third
degree murder against Ashley. Enter via Amicus curia (Friend of the
Court)
petitioners. These petitioners are persons with strong views on the
subject matter who may join in filing briefs on behalf of a party-but
actually to suggest a rationale consistent with it's own views. In the
instant case the "friends" consisted of a list of pro-abortion minded
liberal organizations. This list included no less than three ACLU
attorneys from New York, New Jersey and Miami, along with others. This
case has produced volumes of artful pleadings regarding Ashley's immunity
from prosecution, but one of the most offensive is perhaps the following
contained in a motion to dismiss and I quote:
"The plain meaning of the Florida Homicide Statute precludes their
application to a pregnant woman's action affecting her own body because
the
homicide statute requires the existence of two separate people (a
perpetrator and a victim) at the time the crime is committed".
This statement clearly reflects the notion that these petitioners failed
to
recognize that the "perpetrator" in this case was the mother who
previously
stated she was going to "shoot herself in the stomach" and later pulled
the
trigger of a .22 caliber pistol which she pointed at her abdomen with the
obvious intent of killing her unborn child. The victim according to the
Office of Vital Statistics is Brittany Ashley. The Death Certificate
number 6786301 states the following:
Brittany B. Ashley, a female, was born on March 27th, 1994 at All
Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. Brittany died at 12:47
a.m., April 11, 1994 at an age of 15 days. The funeral home was Bay
Pines
in St. Pete and Brittany's body was cremated by Cremation Systems
International of Palmetto, Florida.
The message to society is that it is now acceptable to kill one's own
child. We have already given way to the popular flawed notion that if a
child is a burden before birth, then it is acceptable to kill it by
abortion.
In memory of Brittany B. Ashley, this writer passionately requests that
the
legislators of the State of Florida review this case and overturn the
common law immunity conferred on a pregnant woman. This law must be
explicitly changed. To have not considered Brittany a "victim" is an
unconscionable tragedy.
If a Florida statute had specifically proscribed Ashely's conduct before
she acted her prosecution may have been satisfied and a less tragic
ending
for other babies in the future (such as adoption) may be more fully
realized.