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Today’s Profile: Ann Pettway

Ann Pettway, the North Carolina woman accused of stealing a 19-days old baby from a Harlem Hospital in 1987, has admitted to the kidnapping, but said that she committed the act because she became ‘despondent’ after several rounds of miscarriages.’ If convicted, Ms Pettway faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years, to life, in prison. And the miscarriages issue is bound to be one of the defending lawyer’s important arguments for a more lenient prison term.

While not excusing her heinous act, lots of women with difficulty to conceive will likely empathise with Ms Pettway’s ‘despondency’ over being unable to conceive and have her own children when she wanted.

The question therefore, is…

If convicted, should Ms Pettway’s sentence be reduced because of the psychological trauma she is sure to have suffered as a result of her miscarriages?

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