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Woman released after feticide conviction in self-induced abortion overturned

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana woman whose feticide conviction for a self-induced abortion was overturned has been released from prison after a judge said she should be freed immediately.

Indiana Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison says 35-year-old Purvi Patel was with relatives when she left the Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis Thursday morning.

Patel’s attorney, Lawrence Marshall, says she wants her privacy and is focusing on “putting her life back together.”

On Wednesday, a judge resentenced Patel to 18 months on a neglect of a dependent charge but said she should be released immediately because she has already served longer than 18 months in prison.

The Indiana Court of Appeals in July overturned Patel’s 2015 feticide conviction and 20-year prison sentence on a charge of killing her premature infant by taking abortion-inducing drugs.

 

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