Women’s Group: Indictment of Shooting Survivor Marshae Jones Is the Collision of Racism, Sexism, and the Cruel Result of Laws that Criminalize Pregnant People

WASHINGTON -

Yesterday, The Birmingham News reported that Marshae Jones, a 27-year-old black Birmingham woman, was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury on a manslaughter charge, after she was shot in the abdomen in a 2018 altercation and shooting in Pleasant Grove resulting in the loss of her pregnancy. The individual who shot Jones, causing the miscarriage, had their charges dismissed.

In reaction to the news, Shaunna Thomas, co-founder and executive director of UltraViolet, a leading national women’s group, issued the following statement:

“This is the toxic collision of the everyday racism, sexism, and violence experienced by Black women and the terrifying end point of the dangerous anti-choice laws spreading across the country, including in Alabama, that devalue, dehumanize and criminalize women.

“Instead of treating Marshae Jones with compassion after being shot and losing her pregnancy, Alabama has decided to further her trauma and the injustice she has already experienced by charging her, not the person who shot her, with a crime. Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid even went so far as to say that the ONLY victim of the shooting was Jones’ unborn baby.

“This is part of a larger pattern of how our criminal justice system permits and furthers violence and abuse against Black women, and it is unacceptable.”

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UltraViolet is a powerful and rapidly growing community of people mobilized to fight sexism and create a more inclusive world that accurately represents all women, from politics and government to media and pop culture.

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