Dafne McPherson moments after being told she is finally being released prison.
by Fio del Pielago
In 2015, a Mexican woman was charged with homicide and sentenced 16 years in prison. Dafne McPherson was working at a department store when she felt a sharp abdominal pain. She went to the bathroom, unaware of her pregnancy, and had a miscarriage in the toilet.
McPherson was later found passed out on the bathroom floor after a tremendous amount of blood loss due to the miscarriage. McPherson was then sent to jail in Central Mexico without getting proper medical help.
Three years later, after several protests made by people, the court found no solid scientific evidence of McPherson purposely killing her baby. This resulted in her release on January 25, 2019.
Freshman Carly Wolf, agrees with the protesters and said, “I think it is unfair because a miscarriage is not something you can control. Therefore, being convicted of a homicide is a very extreme sentence.”
Even though she was let out, people continued to criticize McPherson. The public thought this was a way of McPherson trying to kill her baby and have an abortion.
Citizens of Mexico think of abortion as a sin, saying that it breaks the idealized version of womanhood. Women who attempt to get an abortion can be jailed for up to five years, and doctors who perform abortions can be jailed for up to eight years.
Abortion has been a very controversial topic in recent years, not just in places like Mexico, but also in the U.S. On the weekend of January 18, 2019, there were several marches in D.C. including the March for Life and the Women’s March. The March for Life supported antiabortion laws saying everyone deserves life while the Women’s March was for women’s rights- – including abortion.
Math teacher, Paula Ann Katze said, “There may have been a cultural bias towards the idea that abortion is illegal and a possible bias against women,” which does acknowledge the controversy of abortion in certain parts of the world.
Because of the culture in Mexico, several people criticized McPherson. Some even going as far as saying her actions were something “not even a dog would do.”
However, McPherson did not let this affect her. McPherson has been overjoyed with her release and finally able to see her daughter again, who is currently 6-years-old. Her daughter had only been 3-years-old at the time of McPherson’s conviction.
Due to the money she and her family had lost, as well as her nearly losing her daughter, Katze said that since McPherson had been wrongfully convicted, she deserves to be compensated for the things she lost.
Time away from her child may not be able to be fully redeemed, but she should be paid back for the wages she lost, as well as the bills for the legal costs.