LogFAQs > #913645113

DrCidd posted...

So here's a thought experiment.

Let's say there's a woman who's within the legal range (or for the sake of argument, the range you feel makes abortion okay). She is on her way to the abortion clinic to have the pregnancy terminated and a man mugs her. Which results in her having a miscarriage.

How do you charge him in the court of law?

I wouldn't really have a choice - I would be bound by the laws of whatever jurisdiction this occurred in. Some areas do have additional penalties for crimes that result in a terminated pregnancy.

Pretending that I could charge it however I wanted to, however, if it's occurring in the timeframe you're suggesting, I would simply charge him the same way I would if he'd attacked her and broken her arm. At that point the fetus is part of her body, not an independent life, so it would be some combination of theft and battery charges.
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