--- title: Purvi Patel: Judge Orders Release After Feticide Conviction description: Purvi Patel, an Indiana woman whose feticide conviction was overturned earlier this summer, should be released from jail immediately, a judge said. canonical: https://time.com/4476036/purvi-patel-feticide-release/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-01T21:18:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:17.112Z og:title: Woman Convicted of Feticide Will Be Released From Prison og:description: She was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison after a self-induced abortion og:url: https://time.com/4476036/purvi-patel-feticide-release/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d59480fc553da50/6988a4892dce018a2e9ea832/purvi-patel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Purvi Patel og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Woman Convicted of Feticide Will Be Released From Prison twitter:description: She was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison after a self-induced abortion twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d59480fc553da50/6988a4892dce018a2e9ea832/purvi-patel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Woman Convicted of Feticide Will Be Released From Prison > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Sep 1, 2016 9:18 PM UTC  Purvi Patel is taken into custody after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide and neglect of a dependent, at the St. Joseph County Courthouse in South Bend, Indiana, March 30, 2015. Purvi Patel is taken into custody after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide and neglect of a dependent, at the St. Joseph County Courthouse in South Bend, Indiana, March 30, 2015. Robert Franklin—AP  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Sep 1, 2016 9:18 PM UTC An Indiana case that raised concerns from women’s advocates about whether feticide laws could be used against [women who had abortions](http://motto.time.com/4278691/abortion-advocate/?iid=sr-link4) came to an end on Wednesday. A judge said that Purvi Patel, an Indiana woman [whose feticide conviction was overturned earlier this summer](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/advocates-applaud-indiana-reversal-purvi-patel-feticide-case-n616131), should be released from jail immediately, [the Associated Press reported](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f28c6ab76eb34322abc926beb8ae7951/woman-gets-18-months-after-feticide-conviction-overturned?utm%5Fcampaign=SocialFlow&utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=AP). Patel was arrested in 2013 after she allegedly induced her own [abortion](http://motto.time.com/4375317/supreme-court-texas-abortion-case/?iid=sr-link1) with drugs purchased online, delivered a premature baby that later died, and placed the child’s body in a trash can. In 2015, Patel was convicted of feticide and child neglect and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Patel [is believed to be the first woman](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/appeal-indiana-woman-convicted-having-abortion) in the U.S. to have ever been charged, convicted and sentenced for feticide for attempting to end her own pregnancy. [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ Patel [appealed the conviction](http://indianalawblog.com/documents/Patel%20-%20Apellant%20Brief%20-%2010-2-15.pdf) in October 2015\. [The National Advocates for Pregnant Women](http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/) and 26 other organizations and experts filed [friend-of-the-court briefs](http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/Indiana%20v%20Patel%20Final%20Amicus%20Brief%20Trial%20Court%20-%20Filed%2011.6.14.pdf) supporting Patel’s appeal, arguing that the ruling could set a precedent to use feticide laws to punish the state’s women for [having abortions.](http://motto.time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/?iid=sr-link2) In July, Indiana’s court overturned Patel’s feticide sentence, while upholding her child neglect sentence. The court also downgraded her 20 year sentence to 18 months, [saying that the state’s feticide laws weren’t intended](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/22/court-overturns-feticide-conviction-of-indiana-woman-who-had-self-induced-abortion/?utm%5Fterm=.7fd0534e0ec1) “to prosecute women for their own abortions.” Last week, Indiana’s attorney general said [he wouldn’t appeal](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/indiana-declines-appeal-purvi-patel-s-overturned-feticide-conviction-n637106) Patel’s new sentence. On Wednesday, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Elizabeth C. Hurley said Patel should be released immediately since she had already served more than 18 months. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4476036/purvi-patel-feticide-release/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4476036/purvi-patel-feticide-release/"},"headline":"Woman Convicted of Feticide Will Be Released From Prison","datePublished":"2016-09-01T21:18:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:17.112Z","description":"She was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison after inducing her own abortion","url":"https://time.com/4476036/purvi-patel-feticide-release/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d59480fc553da50/6988a4892dce018a2e9ea832/purvi-patel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d59480fc553da50/6988a4892dce018a2e9ea832/purvi-patel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Purvi Patel","caption":"Purvi Patel is taken into custody after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide and neglect of a dependent, at the St. Joseph County Courthouse in South Bend, Indiana, March 30, 2015.","creditText":"Robert Franklin—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4476036/purvi-patel-feticide-release/","name":"Woman Convicted of Feticide Will Be Released From Prison"}}]}] ```