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Originally posted by tecoyah
It is now Law in the United States, that a fetus is protected from harm while in the womb of its' mother. Would it not follow that should a woman lose her child, due to a fall or other unfortunate situation, she could be charged with a crime against the life she carried?
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I'm not sure but I think the fetus is protected if the mother is harmed in the commission of a crime against her, the mother.
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Unlikely as it may seem, the recent case of a woman criticized for waiting on a C- section and losing one of her twins, is case in point. She could now, very easily be charged with a serious crime for her choice to do as she pleased with her body(I am aware she was a freak in the eyes of most people).
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Whew, that's a shitty case. At what point do the motivations of the mother come into play? In this case, I think she didn't want a cesarean for cosmetic reasons (which is why there was such a fuss), but what if it was on religious grounds, or because she has a fear of surgery? Plus, we let selfish, shallow people have children all the time and fuck them up. Why should a fetus have more rights than an actual human?
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My questions are as follows:
In the case of miscarriage, is the mother guilty of manslaughter?
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Imagine that a mother can't afford prenatal care for some reason, and has a miscarriage that could arguably have been prevented. Is she guilty? What about her employer who didn't provide health insurance? What if she had access to prenatal care but chose not to use it? I can see this getting way the fuck out of hand. What if she had gestational diabetes but kept eating ice cream anyhow?
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What is the underlying motivation to qualify an undeveloped human as sentient,thus giving it rights it has no way of comprehending?
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We give rights to others who have no way of comprehending those rights - infants, children, people with mental disabilities, etc. The issue isn't sentience or capacity to understand, it's the decision to declare that something that isn't technically an individual yet (do we give all embryos social security numbers on conception? Can I collect SS death benefits if I have a miscarriage? /callous smartass mode) has rights.
I predict this conversation deteriorates into the usual pointless argument when life begins in 3....2....1....