Mississippi Supreme Court Expands Wrongful Death Law to Cover Unborn Fetuses

Aug 22 13:57 UTC 2003

The Mississippi Supreme Court, in a decision criticized by one of its members
as an assault on Roe v. Wade (search), held Thursday that a fetus is a
"person" under state law and wrongful death claims can be filed on its behalf.

  
 
 
 
The justices upheld Tracy Tucker's right to pursue a wrongful death claim
(search) after she alleged emotional distress and a mistake by her doctors
caused her to have a miscarriage (search) in 1997. The fetus was 19 weeks old
at the time, according to doctors. 

Attorneys for the defendants couldn't be reached or declined comment.

Presiding Justice Chuck McRae, in a written dissent, described the decision
as an assault on Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion in
America.

The 6-2 ruling expands the definition of a "person" in wrongful death statutes
to include an "unborn child."

Current law allows people to sue for the wrongful death of a newly born, or
prematurely born, fetus that would have been expected to live.

Presiding Justice Jim Smith, writing for the court, said Thursday's ruling
in the lawsuit brought by Tucker had nothing to do with abortion. He said
doctors performing abortions are still protected by Mississippi law.

"Tucker's interest is to protect and preserve the life of her unborn child,
not in the exercise of her right to terminate that life which has been
declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court," Smith wrote.

Pat Cartrette, executive director of Right to Life of Jackson, said while the
decision may not directly affect Roe vs. Wade, it gives a fetus some legal
protection when it develops reflexes, at some cases as early as 8 weeks.

Sondra Goldschein, state strategies attorney for the American Civil Liberties
Union said she was troubled by the court's definition of a fetus as a
"person."

"Anytime the fetus is recognizable as a person it chips away at the foundation
of Roe," she said.

It appears that these rednecks have more brains than most grexers.

response 2 of 116:

Aug 22 16:51 UTC 2003

Yeah, right.

I don't see how this is that much different from criminal law where a perp
can be charged with murder of an unborn child (e.g. shooting pregnant woman
in abdomen).

response 4 of 116:

Aug 22 19:49 UTC 2003

That must have been reproduced without permission from "Analogies from Hell".

response 6 of 116:

Aug 22 20:18 UTC 2003

If a fetus is "an unfinished human being," what do you call those who 
are born well before the end of the normal gestation period?

Cannot "all sorts of things go wrong" AFTER birth?  Is it, therefore, 
permissible to kill an sickly newborn after he has emerged from the 
birth canal?

response 8 of 116:

Aug 22 22:23 UTC 2003

Re #2:  I don't agree with either.  If a perp shoots a pregnant woman in the
        abdomen, it's attempted murder on the woman.  That ought to be enough.

response 10 of 116:

Aug 22 22:31 UTC 2003

What an image.