November 29, 2007
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Tasing a Pregnant Woman
The FBI is investigating an incident where a policeman used a taser gun on a pregnant woman.
The woman went to the police department and was trying to get police officers to take custody of her 1-year-old son. The woman decided to leave and the police officer tried to stop her. He took her son out of her hands. He said she resisted arrest and forced her to the ground and used a taser gun on her.
The police officer said he did not know the woman was pregnant because she was wearing a winter coat. Here is the link: Link
I am not sure what the big story is here. Police are able to use a taser gun on anyone else including fat people and it is only a fetus in her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.
Do you think police should be able to use a taser gun on a woman they know is pregnant?
Comments (117)
Ahhh D: No!
That’s horrible. ):
nooo.
“I am not sure what the big story is here. Police are able to use a
taser gun on anyone else including fat people and it is only a fetus in
her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.”
Is that how you really feel about a “fetus”? If so that just made me sick and most definitely will be unsubscribing to this blog.
that’s terrible. of course not!
I win. >.>
But if they can’t taser babies, they shouldn’t be able to taser mommies carrying babies.
That, and she was obviously trying to do good for her already-born child, yes? And I’m sure that the big strong officer could have held her down well enough WITHOUT having to use any extra force. Or he should have been able to.
Hell no.
Wow, I would think it would be traumatic for the fetus.
Strange story.
No. And why taser her if she’s already on the ground. Its to stop people from hurting you, not to punish them! geez!
That sounds like a plot to a horror movie. Only the baby isn’t harmed, but somehow gets super powers by the sudden electrical surges! But in answer to your question, sure. Why not?
I hope everyone will get the joke.
No, not unless she is going to massacre a bunch of school children or something equally heinous. But generally, no. I’m sure you could easily outrun a pregnant lady anyway. Or entice her to cooperate with the promise of cake or pickles.
ryc: What do you mean finally? You’ve been up there all day! In the company of so many gorgeous women I might add! I think your icon looked happy there.
i am more interested in why she wanted them to take custody of her son?
No, geez.. How come I’m start to hear lot of cops are getting taser happy.. They want to feel more powerful??
No NO NOOOOOOoooooo!
Yeah right. Under the circumstances what is allowed now?
If a suspect will not do as you say and you are a cop,
Can you shoot a barbed dart attached to a wire into them and shoot a few thousand volts into them.
They will be subdued.
Any suspect that doesn’t do as you say is resisting.
Get ready for a hell of a lot more tasing stories to come up before it hits the supreme court.
no but i hate that they get used on ANYONE.
Heck no! I don’t understand why he was arresting her in the first place… shouldn’t he have just taken the child and called social serves? I mean come on I would not force a child back into the hands of someone who was trying to abandon them in the first place.
Unless she was assulting him I see no reason why a tazer should have been used… was there imediate harm or danger present?
At initial browse, I saw “Tasting a Pregnant Woman”… just.wrong.
post the stuff about zoey zane. =)
Why am i not surprised that she’s black…
If it doesn’t hurt the baby, yes.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!! THAT’S HILARIOUS!!!
No
Yeah, the law kind of has to figure out when a baby is a baby and not a fetus before they can figure out when tasering someone is illegal. I mean, if it’s a baby (which I believe it is) then you shouldn’t do anything to harm it. If it’s not… then it is a possibly an unwanted piece of flesh that might become a baby at some point, but at this point it’s still legal to taser. Actually, I hate tasering period.
Some pregnant women deserve to be tasered. But, I’m thinking of the kind that constantly rub their bellies in public for attention and talk in baby voices constantly.
its kind of funny to me that some people who comment, who are pro choice, and are fine with abortion DO have a problem with a taser hurting the baby…seems kind of contradicting
nooooo
Does she have the energy to make an escape? Wow….when I was pregnant, I just wanted to lie down all day.
i think i want tasers banned.
No.
“It isn’t like it is a real life.”
I agree with one of the first comments. Makes me want to unsub. Maybe conceive another child and then listen to its HEART BEATING within a few short weeks. Real life my ass
Pregnant women running wild committing crimes and all the while Police were not able to use their tasers.
I don’t think anyone should be tased. period. Its cruel. Especially since they did it for no reason. She wasn’t attacking them.
“…and it is only a fetus in her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.”
Ummm, it is a real life. It has a soul, ok? It’s had a soul since conception. It’s a real, live, breathing person. Just because it can’t live on its own yet doesn’t mean that it is less significant than you.
Christ, what is with all the tasering going on lately? Aren’t they capable of doing anything else?
Why the hell did he have to taser her. She was already on the ground, wasn’t she?
Let’s not use tasers anymore. Recently, there had been too many taser incidents!
Guys, I think he’s being SARCASTIC about the “it’s not a real life” thing. -_-
Damn it! Fuck the police and their fucking taser guns!
Wait. Forget the taser thing. She was trying to leave her 1 year old son at the police station?
“Is that how you really feel about a “fetus”? If so that just made me sick and most definitely will be unsubscribing to this blog.
<li class=”itemtimestamp”>11/29/2007 7:37 PM
<li class=”itemsubmitter”>hvnslittledevil (message)”
Dan’s a sarcastic man. I think he was just implying that the general public supports pro-choice and they do not see fetus’ as a human being.
hmm let me think about this
the police are going tasercrazy.
and i agree with beka28
How did those police officers know that she was pregnate? It’s not like they intentionally did it to cause harm to the fetus.
“it is only a fetus in her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.”
lol… oh I love sarcasm…
nO.
Just bring back shooting possibly hostile black people that are on crack.
To me, the issue is not the fetus. A pregnant woman has a lot of strain on her heart and other organs, so a taser could kill her more easily than a nonpregnant woman.
Also, if she has been forced tot he ground, how necessary is a taser, anyway?
I was pregnant with twins and painting the kitchen, when I went to remove the face plate off the electrical outlet I accidently jammed a screwdriver in the outlet, thus sending a shock through my body and was knocked to the ground… My babies came out just fine…. I think their little eye ticks and stuttering is somewhat cute!
Now seriously….. NO! You don’t do that to a pregnant woman…. and if she wanted to leave her child then it was probably best she didn’t have him in the first place… Bad cop…. no donut!
No.
If the pregnant woman is very far a long how big of a fight can she REALLY put up? I mean, they can’t even bend over, or run really. Maybe waddle at pregnant-hyper-speed.
& I hope he didn’t force her on the ground belly down, that might be bad.
Only a fetus?!!!?!?!!! I would have to completely disagree with you!
And it sounds like an excessive use of force anyway.
guys! seriously! the sarcasm in this post is REALLY obvious.
If they KNOW she’s pregnant, then no. They shouldn’t be.
However, I seem to be hearing a lot about police tasering people lately. It’s like..one story happens and the police get away with it…and now they’re getting taser happy since apparently they can “get away with it.”
They should only be able to do it in a real situation that calls for it…and this situation hardly seems to constitute tasering this woman.
I don’t think it should have been used even if she wasn’t pregnant.
hell no
if she’s breaking the law, yes
not sure if this situation was serious enough for that though ha
Ahahahaha, your sarcasm always loses one or two fools.
With new laws being passed saying that you can be given a murder charge for killing a fetus, I don’t see why it’s unreasonable to legislate illegality on this issue. But unfortunately there’s sometimes no way to tell if a woman is pregnant or not.
“its kind of funny to me that some people who comment, who are pro
choice, and are fine with abortion DO have a problem with a taser
hurting the baby…seems kind of contradicting”
I’d say it’s not contradictory at all. Women who get an abortion choose to terminate the pregnancy. It’s the woman’s choice. I can hardly see getting tasered and possibly losing the child as a choice.
-David
Tasering has been in the news so much lately, I wonder if it’s actually on the rise or if this is just a “police brutality” fad that’s sweeping through the media so much that every taser story is announced.
-David
‘…and it is only a fetus in her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.”
You are going to get so much shit for that comment…. I love it-
Why didn’t she use her 1 year-old to shield herself from the taser like that one lady?
and hvnslittledevil needs to learn how to take a joke.
I thought it was the law that women could bring their children to police stations and fire stations with no questions asked….
what right did that officer have tazing a pregnant woman
Not unless she poses an imminent threat to anyone. But that goes for anyone.
Well I believe that tasing should be a last resort and I don’t think that pregnant women should be excluded from that because that would essentially just give them free reign to break the law and do anything else they want to do. Besides, you can’t always tell when a woman is pregnant and if we restrict cops from tasing anyone who could possibly be pregnant then really any woman between the ages of probably 13 and 60 or so would be off limits to being tased and that is completely absurd.
“I am not sure what the big story is here. Police are able to use a
taser gun on anyone else including fat people and it is only a fetus in
her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.”
you’re not serious are you??? Please tell me not…
thats’ horrible and disgusting. truly disgusting. if you’re one of those bloggers who use ‘sarcasm’ i dont think this ‘sarcasm’ is appreciated. by anyone.
Not EVEN gonna go there. Not worth an answer!
Well I don’t see why people get so worked up over this stuff. They expect police officers to do their job and when they do people go crazy. Of course if she is not complying thats what his taser is for, she should have just listened
BeKa28
“its kind of funny to me that some people who comment, who are pro choice, and are fine with abortion DO have a problem with a taser hurting the baby…seems kind of contradicting”
I hope you’re expressing an impulse feeling, otherwise, your conception of the issue surrounding abortion is astoundingly superficial.
The issue of abortion lies on a weighing of values, on one hand A.) the potential eventual life of the unborn child and on the other, B.) the woman’s right to her own body, the circumstances that the child will be born into, and the impact of the child on the life around it. Pro-choice individuals weigh B.) over A.), and Pro-life person vice versa.
Pro-choice indiviudals do not entirely disregard the sanctity of life of the baby. If you’re hoping to caraciturize this way, then you sir (or madame) am a fucking idiot.
At the point that a police officier hurts another woman’s child, then not only is he entrenching upon the safety and life of the baby, but also that of the mother and her guardianship and choices of her baby. In abortion, the woman makes the hard decision. In police taser, the woman has no choice.
its kind of funny to me that some people who comment, who are pro choice, and are fine with abortion DO have a problem with a taser hurting the baby…seems kind of contradicting
<li class=”itemtimestamp”>11/29/2007 8:10 PM
<li class=”itemsubmitter”>BeKa28 (message)
totally not the same thing in any way. this is not a person who mentioned a desire to terminate her pregnancy as per the article to begin with. abortion is about chosing to end a pregnancy. but that said my response to the story.
first rather amusingly blatant attempt at irony and in no way enough information to decide if taser-use was justified or if it would have been reasonable to expect an officer to have been able to tell if the woman was pregnant or not. but i didn’t see any pictures, i may have missed them so my answer is based on having seen no images.
I think there is no question to anyone that the life and development of the unborn child is at severe risk when the mother is tasered. Under almost all circumstances, alternatives should be seeked.
However, in extreme and emergency circumstancess, then tasering may be justified. Though, such scenarios are so remote and unrealistic (especially with a pregnant woman) that they don’t deserve serious discussion.
“I am not sure what the big story is here. Police are able to use a taser gun on anyone else including fat people and it is only a fetus in her body. It isn’t like it is a real life.”
Is that how you really view the unborn?
Dan, we know that you have children, since you’ve said so in the past. Before they were born, did you think they weren’t a real life, and your children were “only a fetus”? I guess if the unborn aren’t real, they are imaginary?
I don’t think it was right for the officer to taser a pregnant woman. However, I don’t think it was right for the pregnant woman to put herself and her unborn child at risk by running away and breaking the law. Another thing, how is an officer supposed to know if a woman is pregnant or not when the woman isn’t obviously showing, such as a naturally skinny woman with a huge pregnant bump popping out of her midsection. Not all women are like this, though. Some may be in their first trimester and are not showing yet. Others may be naturally of a larger proportion and their pregnancy belly doesn’t show as obvious as on a skinnier woman. What is a police offier to do then… “Uh Lady… are you pregnant? I must ask before I taser you.”
I guess I object to your comment about the fetus not being a life. What about where it talks in the Bible about being “knit together in my mother’s womb.” It’s life!
I thought I was bad at getting sarcasm.
-David
Absolutely not, it doesn’t even sound like she was resisting. A taser should only be used if the police officer is in danger of being injured. This is horrible.
Also I must say I was really, really disappointed in your “It isn’t like it is a real life” statement. I didn’t know you felt that way.
Without being there it hard to say. He didn’t know she was preggers. Plus I’ve seen some pretty bad ass pregnant woman before. She could have been high who knows but as a general rule, no.
tasering shouldn’t be allowed period.
no.
Why would they need to taser her in the first place? That’s just stupid.
Another example of a great question. If someone says no but believes in abortion – why do you care? the baby does not “exist” yet right? however, if you believe abortion is wrong then i think you could say this is/was (could be) wrong.
Personally, I think it is better than using a baton.. they did not know! I mean I am sad.. but it was an accident and people today seem to lack to capacity to have compassion and mercy and grace during accidents like these – as well as, people need to understand that people cannot READ YOUR MIND.
Daniel (doubledb)
I think the police have gone overboard using tasers. They should be able to use tasers on anyone that is actually a threat, but they need to trat them like real guns and realize that tasers can kill too.
I just wonder if the tasering was even necessary. I mean, really, a bunch of cops couldn’t figure out how to restrain a PREGNANT woman??
I also find it really insulting and ignorant the comments about this and pro-choicers. Just b/c I think a woman should have the right to abort a fetus doesn’t mean I think all babies are worthless, or shouldn’t be cared about. I am very much pro-choice, and 6 and 1/2 months pregnant with my first child whom I already love dearly, and am very concerned upon reading this topic as to what a taser would do to the unborn child, who seems to be wanted and will eventually be born and will have to live with whatever consequences might come from having had that done to it at such a delicate stage of development.
I kinda figured that pregnant women liked to get tazed. Isn’t that why they are pregnant in the first place?
They definately shouldn’t taser pregnant women. They shouldn’t taser anyone!
Yes, I work in a jail, we tase people al the time if they’re uncooperative.
And also, so everyone knows how a taser works, all it does is make all the muscles in your body contract. It’s non-lethal… give it up people.
I do not understand the necessity of tasering the woman. She was in a Police Station, not on the street where the officer might have been alone. If he had her on the ground, it makes more sense for him to have the other officers give him a hand if he was unable to subdue a lone woman. Poor one year old son that had to witness his mother been put to the ground and then tasered. What some men will do to get out of taking care of a chld!
hmmm not sure. if it harms the child then the cop is in trouble. but if u are pregnant they y fight back.
I agree with mundanejane. I don’t see why it was necessary. More and more I am seeing law enforcement use tazers just because they can.
Google “tazer death”. It can and does kill people. It is only harmless for an adult healthy body.
I’m curious what kind of effect it would have on the baby.
Btw, I always get the impression that these scenarios are hard to do justice in a few sentences of reconstruction. Usually, I get the impression that the people who get tased are stubbornly uncooperative.
Why am i not surprised that she’s black…
<li class=”itemtimestamp”>11/29/2007 7:52 PM
<li class=”itemsubmitter”>Little_Lady27 (message)
I hate that kind of crap. Would white people have posted that if it had been a white women? No. Grow the hell up. For all you know the officer who did it was black.
To answer to question: I don’t think tasers should be used on anyone. However, I doubt had the police officer actually seen she was pregnant, I doubt he would have done it.
//It isn’t like it is a real life.//
sometimes i wonder about you…
no, just because perhaps one does not believe that there is a living being inside a pregnant woman doesn’t give them the right to endanger the mother and her potential offspring. for centuries governments have withheld punishment from pregnant women- the same should’ve been done here.
Someone should slap that police officer with a trout..
Of course you can’t taser pregnant women! That’s disgusting. I hope the baby will be o.k.
Atleast he didn’t shoot her or something >_>
I don’t think tasering pregnant women is generally a good idea, I mean some of them do have a mean right hook and are willing to use it.
And this story begs the question what ever happened to “safe surrender” I thought police stations were safe places to take unwanted children instead of dropping them off on the side of the road. She should have just been able to drop her son off and walked away no questions asked, that’s the way it is supposed to work.
Technically, if she was resisting arrest, then the fetus would be resisting arrest, too. Kids these days…
I think using a taser is a real alternative to using guns with bullets, and they should only be used, as any weapon should, by trained professionals in the “Protect & Serve” business as a last choice of defense to protect yourself and others in the immediate vicinity from harm. In regards to this woman, she’s a woman for Gods sake does that police officer expect us to believe that she could resist him attempting to detain her for further questioning that puts his safetly in jeaopardy? I think not.
The fact that she was pregnant was unfortunate otherwise this article would never have been printed. No doubt the fetus, if born, will sue the officer in 10-14 years as is the culture these days, so everything will balance out sooner or later.
Im sure many people would disagree with your comment about the fetus not being a real life but I think using a taser gun on a pregnant women would be ok only if the usage of the gun would not inflict lasting harm the woman or the fetus.
i don’t think anyone is allowed to harm anything that can’t defend itself. its kind of a cowardly/bitch move.
“I also find it really insulting and ignorant the comments about this and pro-choicers. Just b/c I think a woman should have the right to abort a fetus doesn’t mean I think all babies are worthless, or shouldn’t be cared about. I am very much pro-choice, and 6 and 1/2 months pregnant with my first child whom I already love dearly, and am very concerned upon reading this topic as to what a taser would do to the unborn child, who seems to be wanted and will eventually be born and will have to live with whatever consequences might come from having had that done to it at such a delicate stage of development. “ mightymarce
yep..I agree.
What risk does a taser pose to a fetus? If the mother’s actions pose greater risk, then taser could be in order.
And with regars to abortion comparison, its the womans choice, and her body, not a police officers choice nor the officers body.
Tasers should be used in SPECIFIC situations.
They should be used on drunk/high people that are posing a threat instead of them being shot. It should be used as an alternative to shooting someone-only. I think the problem with tasers is that they use them too much in situations where that kind of force is unnecessary.
Tasers aren’t a bad thing per se if they would be used instead of a gun in some situations.
“its kind of funny to me that some people who comment, who are pro
choice, and are fine with abortion DO have a problem with a taser
hurting the baby…seems kind of contradicting “
How?
Did this woman CHOOSE to have her baby tasered or did they do it against their will?
Just because I’m pro-choice doesn’t mean I don’t have a problem with people having their fetuses killed. (lacey peterson, that lady who cut open that pregnant woman’s stomach..)
And being pro-choice doesn’t mean I don’t have a problem with people being pressured into an abortion by economic/social/family/boyfriend, etc. *
*If I did, that would be contradicting to call myself pro-choice.
I find it contradicting when people are pro-life, but pro-death penalty. Why not call themselves pro-fetal life, instead of just PRO-life.
And I do find it contradicting when people are pro-life and spend all this time going to rallies and trying to change laws instead of trying to fix the freaking problem. Just because something is LEGAL doesn’t make people want to do it more–necessarily.
If women had more education about birth control methods and how they MUST be properly used and are not 100% effective, perhaps some women would simply choose not to have sex.
~sorry about my rant, it’s just I’m tired of people trying to solve complex social problems by making laws. It’s like going to see a shrink and telling them that you’re working 70 hours a week and you’re so stressed out all the time, and they give you pills instead of finding a solution.
“its kind of funny to me that some people who comment, who
are pro choice, and are fine with abortion DO have a problem with a
taser hurting the baby…seems kind of contradicting”
it`s not contradicting. we are pro-CHOICE for a reason. no one said the woman WANTED to get tasered and risk harming her child.
dan i really hope you were being sarcastic.
no, pregnant women should not get tasered. don`t kick them in the tummy either.
“It is only a fetus… it’s not like it is a real life”?!??? That is a complete lie… depending on how far along she was the baby could have fingers and toes and it’s own heart beat!!!! It is a living being, just right now he/she is dependent upon his/her mother!!!
Sometimes your sarcasm shocks me before I realize it’s sarcasm…
Um..you WERE being sarcastic about the fetus, right?
I never know these days.
If she is properly resisting, then yes he should be allowed to tase her. Her being pregnant has nothing to do with whether or not he should be allowed to tase her; he couldn’t tell she was pregnant. If you aren’t allowed to tase someone based on the suspicion that she is pregnant, you might wanna be careful; what if you have an extremely mannish looking pregnant woman and you confuse her for a fat man?
Not unless they absolutely have to. Because it isn’t fair to anyone in society if a fetus is harmed and is then dependent on society, where as without being tazed the fetus would have had every probability of contributing to society.
What do you mean by just a fetus? That is still a life! If you have to take a child early, they are premature but they still live and breathe right? they do. That is a big deal! That shock could have severely damaged or killed the baby. On the other hand, why would she try to give up her 1 year old? Maybe she shouldn’t have any kids anyway but that baby couldn’t help who it’s mother is.
Pregnant women should never be tasered. You wonder about a woman who deliberately doesn’t listen to the police and puts her child at risk of getting tasered.
Shouldn’t they know better by now?!
“…including fat people…” Bahaha. What?! Does that make sense?!
of course she resisted… they were taking her friggin SON away! are you telling me they couldn’t send a couple of big guys in there to hold her back? if tasering is ever okay, it should be an absolute last resort, not an easy way out of a bad situation that you came totally unprepared for. assholes.
The only time a policeman should be able to use a taser is when the taser is also wired to his balls. That way you know he won’t use it unnecessarily.
Police in general are way too taser-happy.
Aaaah don’t start the “not a real life” argument…
“It isn’t like a real life”
Man, you killed me there, mainly, because I thought you were pro-life and all, which mean you just contradicted yourself.
But I think it isn’t right because, well, I dont feel it is.
i wish other people would take their heads outta their ass and realize you were being sarcastic…maybe you should have put “sarcasm” in parentheses.
if you weren’t, well its your opinion and you are entitled to it. stop giving him greif about it and bringing bible verses in here, not everyone is a christian…(even if you are dan)
> Me thinks this would be, as the doctors say, contra-indicated, i.e. not too good for the fetus or mom, not to mention, did the flatfoot think that would be better in a lawsuit than man-handling her or that she was going to outrun HIM? Stupor trooper!!
Peace to all but the stupor trooper
NO! she was on the ground and she wasn’t harming anybody so the police had NO right to use that kind of FORCE!
way to start a war there, Dan… you had to bring the whole “When does life begin” issue into a situation where it didn’t need to be brought!
You love the drama, don’t you?