Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Hi Bill:
You said it exactly the way that it is probably ment to be taken,
however in the Supreme Court decision it says:
While there is no statutory definition of "child," the Legislature has
defined "minor" to mean "an individual who is under 18 years of age.
The period of minority is calculated from the first minute of the day on
which the individual is born to the same minute of the corresponding day
completing the period of minority." (Fam. Code, § 6500.) A fetus,
therefore, is not a "minor." In determining the meaning of "child" as
used in section 273d, which proscribes the willful infliction "upon a
child [of] any cruel or inhuman corporal punishment or injury resulting
in a traumatic condition," "child" and "minor" have been held to be
synonymous. (People v. Thomas (1976) 65 Cal.App.3d 854, 858.)
And in the civil code it says that a fetus is deemed to be a child.
I'm all confused now. <BG>
Sue
> HI Terry,
>
> Laws define legality regardless of whether they are reasonable or not.
> If a fetus had legal standing as a person with all rights included then
> abortion could never be legal. In that case a woman's "choice" to
> terminate the fetus, and a doctor's "choice" to perform the procedure
> would be no different than a killer's "choice" to kill a person
>
> It is not significant as to how a lawyer reads or interprets a law. It
> is significant how the Supreme Court interprets a law, whether we see
> their interpretation as correct and reasonable.
>
> Of course, it IS always possible for a skilled lawyer to convince a jury
> to return a guilty verdict against a defendant in these cases. And there
> could very well be states that have laws that enable murder charges be
> brought against perps who kill a pregnant woman and thereby kill the
> fetus.
>
> My comment was simply that the paragraph in the California law that Sue
> posted did not seem to be referring to this and was meant to define the
> rights of a fetus that was "subsequently born."
>
> Bill
--
Two rules in life:
1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
