Reviewing the case of Martina Greywind. “Did Greywind have a real choice or was she
coerced?” “Do laws against reckless endangerment of a fetus promote abortion?”
Back in 1992, Martina Greywind was a 28-year-old, pregnant homeless American
woman from Fargo, North Dakota. She was arrested on February 7, 1992, due to inhaling paint
fumes, endangering the unborn child. Without a lawyer on her side, she pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to nine months at a state prison farm. A group called the Lambs of Christ, which
“focus on the rescue of unborn children”, sent over a spokesperson of them, with the intention to
convince Greywind of having the baby, promising her food, medical care and at least $10,000
and if she didn’t want to take care of the baby, 5 families willing to adopt. In the end, despite all
help offered, she still went on with the abortion and didn’t have the baby, all charges for putting
the unborn child in danger were taken away and she kept with her addiction to inhaling paint
fumes. I see this as a case of selfishness by the main character in this story, Greywind, and I
would like to analyze why, despite considering this situation very particular and hard, I see it this
way.
This is a very specific case and situation, where we have a pregnant, homeless woman,
who, according to Gina Kolata (1992): “Her six children were previously taken away from her
by the state.”, due to her addiction to paint fumes and irresponsibility with the children. She has a
record, regarding her addiction, and the fact that she was pregnant, gave the state the option to
charge her with reckless endangerment to a fetus.
She had two options, to stop inhaling paint fumes and not endanger the unborn child,
while having the baby, which would bring her benefits through the Lambs of Christ, which were
very willing to help her in her case, or to abort the child, forget about everything that happened
and still consume the paint fumes. Ms. Greywind was a very mentally unstable person, according
