On my way to work this morning, on the radio i heard a short story about a woman who faced 20 to 40 years for the murder of a fetus. She had kicked the stomach of a pregnant "romantic rival", causing a miscarriage......

Now, i don't condone kicking anyone, let alone a pregnant woman in the stomach, but why is this woman facing such a stiff penalty for something that is done hundreds of times a day: killing a fetus? I haven't had a chance to research this yet, but I believe this was a crime of passion, and abortion is definitely a premeditated action.

Discuss

Wow Quite a subject...

*runs away*

I think she deserves the punishment. She deliberatly kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach TRYING to kill the baby. Abortions are a completely different subject, because that is the mother's CHOICE. My guess is this woman wanted to keep her baby. I'm sure that was extremely traumatic.

it wasnt medically supervised

One more digit closer to a very much needed ZPG.

^^^????


On one hand, I think that she should get charged with more than assault, because it's like forcing an abortion

But on the other hand, I worry that a conviction like that opens the door to a future overturning of roe v wade.

Baby's have a right to live.

Depends on the stage of pregnancy, Daniel.

Jason, babies can't live on their own for about 6-7 months. They're still a lump of dividing cells till month 4.

I do not think she should have murder charges (esp. 1st degree if this was a crime in the heat of passion), but she should def. get two charges of aggravated assault if the pregnancy was past the second trimester, and one case of aggravated assault with a charge of aggravated sexual assault if before.

Babies have the right to live, stupid people shouldnt have the right to reproduce.

Its a woman's reproductive right whether or not to have an abortion, but this woman killed another woman's baby. If she kicked her own stomach, i wouldn't see a problem.

Who in the fuck kicks a pregnant woman in the stomach anyways?!

thats horrible...if possible could you try and find the entire story so we can know what happened....but really thats horrible

here's an article on it

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/03/26/fetal.homicide.ap/index.html

women fought so hard to gain their rights in this country... and overturning of roe vs wade would be a step in the wrong direction

ALRIGHT! That's what, 2 times today we've agreed, Carl?

Uh oh.. was that Satan I saw at REI buying an Artic Down Jacket?

euthenasia is committed everyday too. it's not strictly legal, but in practice it basically is. still, you can't kill an old person just because they're old, right?

same thing imo. just because the same end is occuring, a baby dying, that doesn't mean both situations are the same. it's the circumstances involved.

andy

the problem is with considering a fetus to be a person in one instance, and not in another.



intentionally harming a pregnant woman is a terrible thing... but roe v wade is a much bigger deal than isolated occurances like that.

the possible implications of having laws like that scares me.

I hear there's a special on sleigh rides and snowcones in the 9th circle!

is there any indication of how far along the woman was when she was assaulted?

i think it would be relevant in assessing whether or not it can be morally referred to as "homicide." abortions are legally permitted all over the country up until the third trimester (typically thought of as when a fetus could survive outside the womb.)

if the fetus could not have survived outside of the womb, then by most laws already in place, said fetus does not carry the rights of a live person, and does not get the benefit of warranting a "murder" charge.


*this is absolutely no moral assessment of the situation, but rather a comparison of existing laws and practices.

The fetus was 15-17 weeks old. Second trimester.

I agree with Rosie. There is a big problem when we consider the fetus to be a person in one case and not in another. The more rulings like this happen, the further we are paving the road to overturning roe.

For that reason, I agree with Lane that there should have been charges pressed, but not murder charges.

I personally, am against abortion, but I believe its the right of the woman and the man to decide what to do, unless the man leaves, in which case the right is fully bestowed upon the woman.

I think you need to decide that before you stick your penis in something, or before you let a penis inside of you. SEX was obviously designed for procreation, no matter what anybody says, so, if you do not want to procreate, don't have sex. If you do, realize the potential and take the risk. Now, that does not speak for situations of forced entry (rape), but in that scenario, help should be sought immediately as their are steps that can be taken within 72 hours.

"Sorry little baby, but you are an inconvenience to mommy and daddy, and we don't want to give you the same opportunites we were given. We are going to kill you and grandma, who is just taking up space in that damned nursing home. We have plans, and y'all are just not a part of 'em!! "

The problem with the "just don't have sex" idea (besides the fact that it is completely unrealistic) is that it sets up this system where women are the gatekeepers of sex, and men are constantly just trying to get away with as much as they can. Which is how it used to be (before abortion was accessible to the general public)... and still carries on to a lot of women being sexually repressed and thinking that sex is immoral, while things like rape are sometimes excused as "boys will be boys," or, "she was dressed provacatively, she deserved it."

And the same argument that says abortion is murder can be used against the "morning after pill".... hell, you can even extrapolate it to say that contraception is denying life to a potential baby!

I think unless science advances to the point where a woman can hand off an unwanted pregnancy to someone else... it should be her choice whether she wants to let her body be used as an incubator for a fetus. Pregnancy isn't some minor thing that happens in the background of your life; its a big deal that drastically changes your life for several months. People who aren't commited to doing it right (ie- not drinking, smoking etc) shouldn't be "taught a lesson" by being forced to go through it cause they had sex.

i don't think abortion should be used as a method of birth control, but i do believe in a woman's right to make that choice for herself.

while this woman was sick for kicking another woman in the stomach, i don't think murder charges are appropriate, because of the possibility of overturning roe v. wade. we can't decide when a fetus becomes a human on a case by case basis.