[Admiral Beez]

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/262621

I've been hearing about this on the news this morning, and as a parent myself, it is upsetting. If a pregnant woman is murdered, should the accused also be charged with murdering the unborn child? In the case, the child was eight months along, and could have more than likely have survived if born at that age in a hospital. If my wife had been killed while pregnant with my child, I'd want the accused charged with two murders. What do you guys think?

...and no, let's not turn this into a debate on abortion, and I know there's a few of you here that are about to type something along the lines of..."if it's not criminal for a woman to terminate her own pregnancy, it can't be criminal (in the sense of murder) for another to terminate her pregnancy" or "if we allow a murder charge, we assume the fetus is a legal person and it'll set back progresss in abortion rights by decades..." Let's assume we've already had that debate, and skip it all now.

What I want is your visceral feel on the matter, not a discussion on legalities or politics. Should this person be charged with two murders?

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

isn't 8 months a little late for abortions? isn't the mother the only person to decide the abortion? this is like a forced abortion which means 2 murders. this has nothing to do with a womans right to choose. there are some sick fucks out there.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Canada has no abortion law, you can terminate the fetus/baby a second before it's born if you wish. That will be my last post of abortion here, as I really don't want this to turn into a debate on that subject.

 

[Canuck]

One.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

One. A feotus isn't a person until it's born.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

One. A feotus isn't a person until it's born.

but her fetus was killed against her will, as was she. in cases like this, i think there should be a distinction between abortion and murder. i don't see a slippery slope here.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Unborn Victims of Violence Act

They've made the distinction clearly in the States.

In the States they have the Unborn Victims of Violence Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unborn_Victims_of_Violence_Act

This law "recognizes a "child in utero" as a legal victim, if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence." This does not include abortion.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

but her fetus was killed against her will, as was she. in cases like this, i think there should be a distinction between abortion and murder. i don't see a slippery slope here.

But the feotus wasn't a person. You can only murder a person.

 

[Jarrek]

Two in this case.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

But the feotus wasn't a person. You can only murder a person.

maybe the law should be changed in situations like this.


this guy will get no punishment in relation to the death of the fetus?

 

[Admiral Beez]

But the feotus wasn't a person. You can only murder a person.

What is a "feotus"? I always thought it was fetus? At first I thought that feotus was Latin, but no, fetus is Latin. Just curious, thanks.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

A typo. I transposed the o and the e. Damn dyslexia.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

maybe the law should be changed in situations like this.


this guy will get no punishment in relation to the death of the fetus?

I don't think we want to import the legal "reasoning" of the anti-abortion nuts south of the border.

 

[Admiral Beez]

What if in the process of murdering the mother, the fetus/baby inside is exposed through the stabbing wounds, takes a breath, and then is killed?

 

[syn]

Definitely two.