Fetal Rights

Fetal Rights Affirmative Action Amateur Athletics American Military Policy Animal Rights Capital Punishment DNA Evidence Election Reform Fetal Rights Freedom of Speech Gay Rights Gun Control Immigration Policy Legalizing Marijuana Mandatory Military Service Media Bias Mental Health Reform Open Government Physician-Assisted Suicide Policing the Internet Protecting Ideas Religion in Public Schools Rights of Students Search and Seizure Smoking Bans The FCC and Regulating Indecency The Right to Privacy Tort Reform Trial of Juveniles as Adults The War on Terror Welfare Reform Fetal Rights Alan Marzilli SERIES CONSULTING EDITOR Alan Marzilli, M.A., J.D. Philadelphia CHELSEA HOUSE PUBLISHERS VP, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Sally Cheney DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Kim Shinners CREATIVE MANAGER Takeshi Takahashi MANUFACTURING MANAGER Diann Grasse Staff for FETAL RIGHTS EXECUTIVE EDITOR Lee Marcott EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Carla Greenberg PHOTO EDITOR Sarah Bloom PRODUCTION EDITOR Noelle Nardone SERIES AND COVER DESIGNER Keith Trego LAYOUT 21st Century Publishing and Communications, Inc. ©2006 by Chelsea House Publishers, a subsidiary of Haights Cross Communications. All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. http://www.chelseahouse.com First Printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marzilli, Alan. Fetal rights / Alan Marzilli. p. cm.—(Point/counterpoint) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7910-8643-7 (hard cover) 1. Fetus—Legal status, laws, etc.—United States. 2. Unborn children (Law)— United States. I. Title. II. Point-counterpoint (Philadelphia, Pa.) KF481.M37 2005 342.7308'5—dc22 2005006533 All links and web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Foreword 6 A Fetus With No Rights or an Unborn Child With Legal Rights? 10 An Embryo or Fetus Does Not Deserve Legal Recognition as a Person 20 An Unborn Child Is a Person Who Deserves Equal Protection Under the Law 38 Fetal Homicide Laws Threaten Women’s Rights 52 Laws Must Protect Every Unborn Child From Violence 68 Laws That Regulate the Conduct of Pregnant Women Invade Their Privacy 80 In Some Cases, the Law Must Protect Unborn Children From Their Mothers’ Behavior 100 The Rise of Fetal Rights and Its Impact on Bioethics and the Abortion Debate 116 Notes Resources Elements of the Argument Appendix: Beginning Legal Research Index 128 134 137 140 144 Foreword Alan Marzilli, M.A., J.D. Durham, North Carolina The debates presented in POINT/COUNTERPOINT are among the most interesting and controversial in contemporary American society, but studying them is more than an academic activity. They affect every citizen; they are the issues that today’s leaders debate and tomorrow’s will decide. The reader may one day play a central role in resolving them. Why study both sides of the debate? It’s possible that the reader will not yet have formed any opinion at all on the subject of this volume — but this is unlikely. It is more likely that the reader will already hold an opinion, probably a strong one, and very probably one formed without full exposure to the arguments of the other side. It is rare to hear an argument presented in a balanced way, and it is easy to form an opinion on too little information; these books will help to fill in the informational gaps that can never be avoided. More important, though, is the practical function of the series: Skillful argumentation requires a thorough knowledge of both sides — though