Current Events — HabitableZone

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You know what bothers me?
Mary Anne — (archived)

That Laci Petersen by herself isn't considered enough of a murder.

A viable late-term fetus has all the equipment to be considered an actual human being instead of a potential human being, and in my view deserves as much protection -- including appropriate medical care and nutrition -- as any other citizen. But certainly no more. (This brings up an interesting side discussion: if a fetus is so valuable, does that mean right-to-lifers will go to bat to get pregnant women appropriate medical care and nutritional assistance regardless of their income? I mean, if the fetus has a "right to life", does the quality of the life count, or does it get to start out with spina bifida because its mother had no money for folic acid supplements?)

The fetal murder laws are, in their way, as superfluous as some of the hate crime statutes. We have laws to govern the crimes already: murder, battery, arson, vandalism, conspiracy, racketeering. The superfluous laws were drafted and passed with the express intent of making a political point. By killing the mother, a viable third-trimester fetus's death becomes a different sort of murder charge: murder defined as killing during the commission of a felony. The penalties are the same.

How sad, that all this outrage is focused on a fetus when a living woman, who could understand what was happening, and whose terror would be enhanced by her understanding, was the primary victim of the crime. But this is often the problem with right to life positions: the woman is a vessel. She has no face, nor identity. She is pregnant. That's all she is. She by herself is not enough.

Her parents no doubt mourn the loss of their unknown grandchild, but I bet they mourn the loss of their daughter more. While we argue about a little person who never knew the sun, they remember the little girl who played in it.

Regards--
Mary Anne

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