manslaughter for women who suffer miscarriages or stillbirths the case involves thirty three year old nina buckhalter has been standing trial for manslaughter in the loss of her fetus which prosecutors claim was caused by her legal drug use according to a mother jones report buckholtz or was charged based on the action of methamphetamines in her system which led a grand jury in to declare the defendant quote did willfully kill a human being by culpable negligence however medical and policy groups have argued it's scientifically impossible to determine a direct cause between in utero illegal drug exposure and harm to the fetus so if there is a guilty verdict in this case what kind of precedent might it set for pregnant women moving forward talk about all that and more i'm joined by foreign diaz hello staff attorney with national advocates for pregnant women who is also part of the legal defense on this case thanks so much for taking the time thanks for having me so what laws exist in mississippi that she's being charged under right now. currently she's being charged under the manslaughter crime and th

manslaughter for women who suffer miscarriages or stillbirths the case involves thirty three year old nina buckhalter has been standing trial for manslaughter in the loss of her fetus which prosecutors claim was caused by her legal drug use according to a mother jones report but halter was charged based on the section of methamphetamines in her system which led a grand jury in to declare the defendant quote did willfully kill a human being by culpable negligence however medical and policy groups have argued it's scientifically impossible to determine a direct cause between in utero illegal drug exposure and harm to the fetus so if there is a guilty verdict in this case what kind of precedent might it set for pregnant women moving forward.

it involves a woman naked nina buckhalter, 33-years-old.ed illegal drugs while she was pregnant and caused the stillbirth of her baby. now they are trying to figure out she could be charged with manslaughter for this. does that mean there could be others that suffer a miscarriage or a stillbirth? joining me is lisa bloom, analyst for avo.com and prosecutor christine grillo from the brooklyn da. lisa, let me start with you. yikes, wow! the autopsy apparently revealed there were methamphetamines found in the fetuses system. the m.e. ruled the death as a homicide, which is unusual in itself. don't you need a cause and a manner of death and just finding the presence of methamphetamines. how do you know that led to the stillbirth? >> you put your finger on the aspect of this case. the american medical association has filed briefs saying exactly that. you can't prove cause and effect so clearly. we all know drug use is a very bad idea for a pregnant woman. it isn't necessarily the reason for this death. taking a step back, ash lee, i would like t