Re: "what sort of person would think about having a child ... possibility of 20 years in jail
"You chaps wouldn't dream of saying the equivalent if Ms Holmes was a bloke."
Sure I would, if it seemed reasonable to believe that said bloke acted primarily for the purpose of manipulating a jury's or judge's sympathies. The simple fact is that men have never been given any special treatment by courts on account of getting someone pregnant or having children, so it wouldn't make any sense for a man to employ that as a means of manipulation. Women have often been given special treatment under such circumstances, and in fact that occurred in this very case: the trial was delayed while Ms Holmes completed her pregnancy. If courts had a history of deferring trials or sentencing of men whose partners were pregnant, I would absolutely accuse a male defendant of manipulating the system by getting his partner pregnant if that seemed plausible. They don't, so this argument makes no sense.
Whether Ms Holmes's pregnancy was primarily manipulative is something only one person will ever know, and neither of us is that person. But in light of her past behaviour, it's not surprising that many believe she'd sacrifice the good of others, even her own child, for her own selfish scheme. Schemers employ schemes they reasonably expect to work. A scheming man would have chosen something different.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
