Another Way Being a Mom Has Changed Me
There is a lot of controversy surrounding a new bill that has been proposed in Vermont. The “Fetal Homicide” bill would allow for the death of a fetus due to a negligent car crash to be considered homicide. Currently, Vermont (as well as many other states) law does not consider a fetus to be a person, and therefore a person responsible for the death of a fetus in an accident receives no harsher punishment than if the fetus were fine. This immediately struck the mother in me as outrageous and unbelievable. You’re telling me that if a drunk driver crashes and kills an unborn baby, he will get nothing more than a DUI?!? That is unacceptable!
However, it is thought that the bill will not pass this year as it would conflict with laws supporting a woman’s Right to Choose. How does this bill connect to abortion, you ask? Well, a fetal homicide case can only win if fetal personhood is claimed, yet abortion laws depend on the idea that a fetus is not a person yet.
So what is a soon-to-be mother yet also liberal woman like myself to support? The first thing my mind wanted to do after reading this was figure out how to validate both sides. I thought, “There is a difference between a woman deciding to terminate her own pregnancy and a stranger negligently deciding for her. There must be!” But do I really believe that? There is obviously a difference for the woman, but what about for the baby? He or she is killed either way.
It really does come down to whether or not one deems a fetus to be a person. Now that I have this little guy in my belly kicking away at me, I answer with an absolute YES. He is already an individual trying to make himself known to me. So what of my pro-choice views? I’m not sure. I will have to do a lot more thinking. Just another way Liam has changed my thoughts on the world before he is even born.
What does everyone else think?
You can read the article here.
You can find your state’s Fetal Homicide laws here.
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