Case Study: Fetal Homicide

In contemporary America it can be argued that nothing is more contentious and controversial of an issue than abortion. From the vehement pro-life movement to the impassioned pro-choice coalition, this policy issue is one that has become increasingly important in our society. This debate has raised important questions regarding the value of human life, at what stage of development does a fetus have it’s constitutionally ensured rights take hold over that of the mother and at what stage can a state start regulating abortions.

Mary Anne Warren (p.195-196) points out the exceptional circumstances of pregnancy; where one human is entirely biologically reliant on another and where it is impossible for complete personhood rights to not be in conflict between the foetus and the mother. Consider the following case. A mother and an expecting mother both express an intent to kill their child or unborn child respectively. Services are available to take the postnatal children from their mother without affecting her body. Yet to protect the foetus, one would have to imprison the mother until birth, or worse, force a caesarean on her. Warren (193) points out that forced caesareans are not merely a hypothetical

The Partial Abortion Act was brought to the attention of the courts in 2003. Before this law, the method for abortion, usually during the fifth month or later, was partially delivering the baby alive before the skull was injured. The spinal cord was “snipped” by the physician, and the baby was killed. This gruesome act was being performed daily by physicians. This law recognized that the fetus was now a different “being” than the mother, instituting of murder, because the fetus was partially delivered alive, then killed by severing the spinal cord. (The National Right to Life Committee Incorporated, 2014).

In 1973, the Supreme Court made a decision in one of the most controversial cases in history, the case of Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)), in which abortion was legalized and state anti-abortion statues were struck down for being unconstitutional. This essay will provide a brief history and analysis of the issues of this case for both the woman’s rights and the states interest in the matter. Also, this essay will address the basis for the court ruling in Roe’s favor and the effects this decision has had on subsequent cases involving a woman’s right to choose abortion in the United States. The court’s decision created legal precedent for several subsequent abortion restriction cases and has led to the development of legislation to protect women’s health rights. Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade was a historic victory for women’s rights, it is still an extremely controversial subject today and continues to be challenged by various groups.

The laws on the books and consequent court choices identifying with them have, after some time, been fixing to two inquiries: whether ladies have the privilege to have premature births, and when does an unborn youngster have a case to privileges of its own. The point of interest choice Roe v. Wade from 1973 goes far in characterizing who gets rights and when. As indicated by the choice composed by Justice Blackmun, the privilege to premature birth is guarded by the fourteenth Amendment. The content of the revision particularly utilizes "conceived" in the criteria to qualify somebody for the security rights ensured in the correction. At the point when the ethical issue of when another life starts is disregarded, it refutes any rights that a gathering of cells and/or baby could have. (Blackmun) However, Roe versus Wade additionally puts the confinement that, at one point (typically in the third trimester of pregnancy), the unborn youngster achieves a state of feasibility which allows it the privilege not to be prematurely ended, aside from cases of assault or interbreeding or if having the child is perilous to the mother. (Blackmun) The rights and cutoff points set out in Roe versus Wade speak to what the vast majority in America think about fetus removal, paying little respect to what they think about it ethically. (Gallup) Roe v. Wade isn't the main huge Supreme Court case

There are several sub-categories within the moral justification for women having the right to choose whether to have an abortion or not. These are: the feminist quality of life argument, the general quality of life argument, the not-a-person argument, and finally the no-duty-to-sustain argument. Each one of these examines something that makes those who support a woman’s right to choose tick.

Abortion is considered as “terminating the fetus,” but it is only legal to do so if the fetus has not reach age of viability, 24 weeks. Meanwhile, assault on a pregnant woman that creates termination or injury to the fetus is illegal and punishable from 1 to 20 years’ imprisonment; likewise, feticide is only considered at 28 weeks of pregnancy. The inconsistency of the differences is significant, and in my opinion, need to be revised. If the fetus has reached age of viability is 24 weeks for abortion, then feticide should be considered at 24 weeks since both would be considered murder of the fetus under the statute. Additionally, I feel as if this becomes a double-standard because it does not allow a clear interpretation of the statute and its purposes to protect the fetus. In conclusion, when applying this statute, it allows one party to be charged for murder later than 24 weeks while the other party is only held liable at 28 weeks or later of the pregnancy. If the statute were to be revised and established to be at the same viability as abortion, then it would allow the statute to be more controlled of what is legal and

The United States has been divided now over the issue of abortion for thirty-three years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973. As of today, over 45 million legal abortions have been performed in the United States. Pro-choice advocates hold these 45 million abortions as being 45 million times women have exercised their right to choose to get pregnant and to choose to control their own bodies. To pro-life, or anti-abortion, advocates these 45 million abortions constitute 45 million murders, a genocide of human life in the United States propagated by the court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. The debate over abortion in the United States is thus a debate of two extremes. One side argues from the personal liberty of the mother. The

Proponents of punishing pregnant women, who put their fetuses at risk, have highlighted some pertinent legal and ethical issues. One is that a viable fetus (fetus after 27 weeks gestation) has certain rights and privileges. They are of the opinion that as soon as the fetus is viable and can survive independently from it mother, it becomes a

There are currently 29 states with homicide laws that recognize unborn children as victims throughout the entire period of pre-natal development, 8 states with homicide laws that recognize unborn children as victims, but only during part of the period of pre-natal development, New York is the only state with a conflicting statute, and the remaining 14 states do not have specifically appointed laws (State). Under New York statutory law, the killing of an “unborn child” after twenty-four weeks of pregnancy is homicide, but under a separate statutory provision, a “person” that is the victim of a homicide is statutorily defined as a “human being who has been born and is alive” (State). These two statutes are conflicting because the definition of “personhood” is presented in two different ways, giving an ambiguous solution to fetal homicide cases. The majority of the 8 states that provide partial protection to fetuses consider “personhood” to be given once a fetus has reached “unborn quick child” status. This describes a fetus whose heart is beating, who is experiencing electronically measurable brain waves, who is detectably moving in the womb, and who is so far developed and matured enough to be viable outside the womb with intensive medical support (Quick). While the specific details of feticide laws may vary from state to state, the main controversy stems from the pregnant mothers being charged with violent crimes committed against their own unborn babies and the legal difference between a third-party abortion vs. a third party

After the Roe v. Wade decision that a fetus does not qualify as a person or human being under criminal homicide statues, Legislatures began to pass feticide statutes (When is Death of a Fetus a Homicide, 2007). California Legislature passed a statute with no viability requirement and no requirement the offender know of the existence of the fetus. In California, it can be a capital offense to cause the death of a nonviable fetus even if the offender knew of the existence. (When is Death of a Fetus a Homicide, 2007).

The elements surrounding abortion, assisted suicide and murder are similar in in that some people believe all three are the taking of a life. When addressing abortion, it is the never-ending dispute and controversy defining a “Person” or Human Being,” and the question of when life begins. The “born alive” rule is law in eighteen states, but it has leaked over to generate homicide charges when a baby dies after being born due to an injury sustained by the mother. Because 24 states also have legislated the killing of a fetus as a crime, the line is getting blurred when it comes to right to choose. It becomes even more blurred when considering the differences each state use to determine when ending the life of a fetus becomes a murder. Surprisingly,

Abortion was a lawful alternative before 1973, from that point onward, premature birth was unlawful unless the lady 's well-being was undermined. Presently in 2017, as legitimized premature birth has turned into a regular piece of American life, an alternate side to it has risen. Where ladies once were prematurely ending since they “didn 't need a child”, the reasons being given now are ending up noticeably altogether different. Fetus removal has transformed into something that ladies are being constrained into from spouses unwilling to be fathers, out of dread of the monetary weight, out of frenzy from losing their occupations, out of frenzy from quitting school, or end up noticeably destitute, or out of dread of

In addition to what has already been stated, the main argument for the right to an abortion is the gender equality issue between men and women (Kolbert, 1992, par. 1). A pregnant woman is said to be withheld from her normal, everyday life because of the fetus being carried inside of her. Women should be viewed as their own person and not just as housing for a fetus. Another argument for women who support abortion is that men do not get pregnant and, therefore, they do not get confined to the responsibilities of being pregnant

Doctors Andre and Velasquez from Santa Clara University postulate the difference between a fetus and a 3-month-old baby. They compare how the two individuals by themselves do not possess the capability for survival. If a mother were to terminate a fetus at seven weeks old, her actions would remain justified under the current laws for abortion in some states (Andre and Velasquez). However if she were to drown her child at 3 months old, the courts would intervene and the mother would face twenty-five years to life in a state prison. This pro-choice argument is a smokescreen for the uniformed population. A human being does not have the capability to support itself fully for many years after birth, so the termination of a fetus for any purpose other than a life-threatening condition to the mother is utterly unacceptable. Consequently, an unborn child has the same rights as living humans, thus making abortion constitutionally illegal.