rnavarro@muddcs.UUCP (Robert Navarro) (03/05/85)
If killing an unborn child is murder, then should people who murder a female of childbearing age be tried for two murders instead of one, to take into account that she might have been pregnant at the time?
barry@ames.UUCP (Kenn Barry) (03/08/85)
[I am not a lawyer] > If killing an unborn child is murder, then should people who > murder a female of childbearing age be tried for two murders instead > of one, to take into account that she might have been pregnant at the time? It would depend on whether she *was* pregnant or not, I would think. This could surely be determined post-mortem. If she *were* pregnant, I'm pretty sure that the perpetrator could be tried for two murders. I recall hearing of a case recently (here in California) where a mugger who had attacked a pregnant woman and caused the death of the fetus, was being charged with murder of that fetus. This is not necessarily inconsistant with abortions being legal. If anything, it's just one more illustration of the fact that the legal "humanity" of a human fetus doesn't have to be an either/or question. Whatever the legal theories (or lack of same; I know of no definition of "human" in our statutes), in practice the legal standing of a fetus seems to be less than "human", but more than "not human". And while this may bother some philosophers, it may still be the best answer to the question, "is a fetus legally a human being?". - From the Crow's Nest - Kenn Barry NASA-Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USENET: {ihnp4,vortex,dual,hao,menlo70,hplabs}!ames!barry
bmt@we53.UUCP ( B. M. Thomas ) (03/18/85)
The law of Moses provides for what to do when two men fight and cause a pregnant woman to miscarry. I am not familiar with what is prescribed for the murder of a pregnant woman, but I do think that laws in this country provide a greater penalty for this offense. Who would have thought that anyone would read a posting called "test"? Was that the test? brain