I just read an article on Yahoo News about a woman being charged with the murder of a woman and that woman's fetus. How can a person be charged with the murder of a fetus when a fetus is not considered a life when it comes to medical procedures such as abortion?
2006-09-23 12:47:32 · 21 answers · asked by aDWsd 1 in News & Events ➔ Current Events
I just read that article myself....I think they changed what is considered a life after the whole Laci Peterson case...and if it can survive on its own outside the womb, it isn't considered a fetus anymore...
2006-09-23 12:50:07 · answer #1 · answered by irishmomof3 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Under the common law you are correct. However some states have passed legislation which extends the definition of murder to include fetuses. Where a statute covers this then the woman can be charged and tried for the murder of a fetus.
2006-09-23 20:16:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The fetus is a life in all aspects of the LAW whether it is 3 weeks old or 9 months old. The other woman should be charged with murder for the unborn child and the unborn child's mother.
2006-09-23 20:06:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would assume it has to do with the age of the fetus, as with abortions, there is only a short period of time in which you can have the abortion, before it is too far along. I have heard of this before, and if you think about it, the person did end the lives, of two individuals by killing the mother, and a fetus.
2006-09-23 19:56:05 · answer #4 · answered by steve -s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A fetus is a legal person after a certain point of gestation. There is currently no standard of when exactly that point is. But generally, it is when the fetus could survive on it's own. This is why most states with legal abortion don't allow late-term abortions.
2006-09-23 19:50:45 · answer #5 · answered by juicy_wishun 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I believe the laws should be changed. If you kill a fetus [a baby] you should be charged with murder. It's a human life. Yes, I'm Pro-life!
2006-09-23 22:33:03 · answer #6 · answered by celticwoman777 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not in the medical profession. But when I became pregnant and took a home pregancy test and found out I was 1 month pregnant, I feel that is a human being. There are websites that show you the month by month of a fetus and how it gorws in a womb. To me a fetus is when a woman's test shows she is pregnant.
2006-09-23 21:09:25 · answer #7 · answered by Lynn M 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depending on how old said fetus was. If she was far enough along then it is considered murder. They changed the law because too many men were beating up wives, girlfriends when they were pregnant and killing the babies sometimes on purpose.
2006-09-23 19:52:21 · answer #8 · answered by lisapj 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good question
even though abortion is given as a right - it's the right of the woman to abort - not anyone else.
in that way, the courts usually go with a double murder if the woman and her unborn baby are killed.
yet another oxymoron in the whole abortion debate in my opinion
2006-09-23 19:50:52 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because abortion is murder and anyone who chooses it should go to jail. And killing the woman is not murder? Seriously get a life.
2006-09-23 19:56:00 · answer #10 · answered by Katie Girl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋