by Kimberly Blaker

In what would seem a victory for Jaclyn Kurr, a Michigan woman convicted of voluntary manslaughter whose case was overturned on October 7, a total lack of concern for a woman’s well being surrounds her recent victory.

Kurr was convicted of stabbing Antonio Pena after he punched her in the stomach and continued to come at her in October 1999.

What finally gives Kurr the opportunity for a new trial is that the Court of Appeals ruled that a pregnant woman could use deadly force for the protection of her fetus.

For Kurr, who was in danger of bodily injury and did what was necessary to protect both her fetus and herself, I’m most relieved that she will have an opportunity to possibly be set free.

What is disturbing is the value that was placed on her life in the first place, especially in comparison to the fetus’s.

Apparently, the original jury didn’t perceive that a woman being punched in the stomach by a man was cause enough to use lethal force in defending herself.
By using the ‘defense of others’ in which the fetus, in this case, was the other, the defense may be strong enough for Kurr to be acquitted in the new trial.

There are several serious flaws with this mentality. Mainly, the fact that the punches Kurr had received prior to Pena’s last attempt had not been deathblows doesn’t mean the woman was not in danger. For a woman who is physically weaker than her attacker, a deadly weapon is oftentimes her only defense unless she is otherwise trained.

When being attacked, it is unreasonable to assume that a woman would have time to contemplate what is the best possible weapon that could deliver a strong enough blow to protect herself while not seriously injuring her attacker—let alone that she would have time to go on a hunt for that particular instrument.

What people say about advertise on blogs, read feedbacks. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the leading cause of death to women around the world is domestic violence. In the U.S., husbands, boyfriends, and exes are responsible for one-third of all women who are murdered.

Unfortunately, Kurr’s case is not unique in a country that tries to impress to the world its concern for human welfare. While we’ve come a long away in recent years, there is still a strong conservative sentiment in the U.S. that fails to value the life of a woman—an attitude often held even by women themselves.

This attitude is seen time and again by fundamentalists or Christian conservatives as they attempt to impose their views on ownership of women on all U.S. citizens.

These views are seen in numerous ways. The push for divorce and welfare reform packages is one of the most obvious. Though the real motive and agenda behind these reforms is generally disguised by those that are proposing them.

Such well-known Christian conservatives as James Dobson and governors as John Engler of Michigan favor the elimination of no-fault divorce. This would make divorce for women in abusive marriages difficult, and sometimes impossible, to obtain.

These “family” proponents believe that both spouses should agree to divorce unless such circumstances as alcoholism or abuse are the cause.

Unfortunately, battered women’s scars often remain hidden as both the batterer and even the abused woman try to hide it. For many battered women, proving abuse is near impossible, in which case the batterers would prevail.

Also making leaving an abusive partner difficult, proposals have been made for welfare reform in which married couples are given priority or bonuses. Except for women who already hold a good-paying job, which is often not the case for battered women as they are kept under lock and key, abused women would be forced financially to remain with the batterer.

When women’s safety and lives can be affected in our courts or our laws by views that devalue women, America should be ashamed. We are only baby-steps ahead of some Middle Eastern countries where women can be beaten not only without penalty—but even by orders directed by the state.

Let’s hope that these conservative views do not prevail in America.
 

Kimberly Blaker’s The Wall™ appears weekly. She is editor and coauthor of the The Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in America. Send your comments to Kimberly Blaker: TheWall@TheWall-OnChurchAndState.com  © 2002, Kimberly Blaker