Abortion Debate

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Lady Sidhe

Here's something I don't get: why is it that if someone causes a woman to lose her child involuntarily, that's considered fetuscide--murder--and they can be charged, tried, and sent to jail for it; but if a woman willfully kills her own child, that isn't considered fetuscide?

I'm not sure that's true. I remember some anti-abortion congressmen tried to pass such a law recently, but I don't know what the status is. I think the usual charge would be forcing a miscarriage, rather than murder.

It's like someone killing a pet. If your next-door neighbor kills your dog, that's animal cruelty, and they can go to jail for it. Likewise, if you abuse and/or kill your dog, the same laws apply to you, although you own the dog. The animal has protections under the law, and it applies equally across the board, no matter WHO violates that law.

Pets are killed by owners all the time, or - perhaps more often - taken to clinics to be killed.