Should there be two counts of murder when someone kills a pregnant woman?

Question

If so, should there be a pregnancy cutoff time when it wouldn't be two counts of murder?
If not, why not when two lives are taken?

Answer 1

In order to be intellectually consistent, you must first answer the question: Is the killing of a fetus murder? This brings in the debate of whether abortion should be legal (which opens a whole other can of worms).

Currently, there are states that charge double murder when someone kills a pregnant woman, but those same states must sanction (and usually sponsor) abortion because it is a federally protected medical procedure (Roe vs. Wade). States that do this shine a spotlight on the glaring inconsistency between federal and state law and proves the absurdity of abortion being a constitutional right. Let the states decide for themselves.

Killing a fetus is killing a fetus-whether it is done by the mother of the fetus, a doctor, or a murderer. So, to be consistent, the penalty for killing a fetus should be the same- regardless of who actually committed the act.

As for cutoff times for when double murder is charged, again consistency is key. Since it is a completely arbitrary topic, the cutoff time for charging double murder should be the same or similar to the state's legal abortion cutoff times.

Answer 2

It should, but is not, because our law don't consider an unborn child a real person, they have no rights that's why they can be legally aborted. They can charge the criminal with other charges but not murder. Some states do charge with murder only if the fetus reach a specific term (California: if the fetus is over 7 weeks).

Schot Peters was charged with two counts of murder, one for his wife and one for his son, because under California law, a fetus over the age of seven weeks can be considered a murder victim . He wasn't charged under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-212) aslo known as "Laci and Conner's Law" becasue that law was created after the the murder and trial not before.

Answer 3

final time I checked, that bill did not bypass yet there's a distinction between a fetus after 12th week and a fetus previously 12th week. The Unborn victims of Violence Act of 2004 replaced into signed into regulation by way of Bush and a Republican controlled Congress. It does not carry any water in professional selection vs professional existence debates

Answer 4

I personally do not believe so in most instances. I do not consider an unborn child to be a life in being. Only if the baby could survive, WITHOUT MEDICAL ASSISTANCE, outside of the womb, should it be considered a life in being. That's my opinion. Some states disagree with me and charge with 2 counts of murder; Laci Peterson's Law.

Answer 5

Most times there is a double murder charge

Answer 6

In many states, it is considered two counts -- one for murder of a living person, and one for murder of an unborn.

Sometimes those are seperate sections of the same statute, and sometimes they are separate statutory crimes.

Answer 7

Depend on which country. Some country consider it double murder and some are don't...

But in my opinion it should be two counts...

Answer 8

yes its murder x 2 no there should be no cut off time

Answer 9

Usually there is. It is a different matter when a pregnant woman is assualted and her child killed than someone who choses to make a private medical decision to terminate her pregnancy.

Answer 10

absolutely ,but the perpetrator should only be executed once