[EMAIL PROTECTED] (William J. Foristal) writes:
>
>
>43. Besides the personal rights mentioned or recognized in the
>Government Code, every person has, subject to the qualifications and
>restrictions provided by law, the right of protection from bodily
>restraint or harm, from personal insult, from defamation, and from
>injury to his personal relations.
>
>
>
>43.1. A child conceived, but not yet born, is deemed an existing
>person, so far as necessary for the child's interests in the event of
>the child's subsequent birth.
HI Sue,
Ooops, instead of helping I think I see an argument that would go against
you here. It seems to me that 43.1 covers situations where something
occurs during a pregnancy that affects the child who is "subsequently
born". This would enable legal action, for example, against a person who
caused the injury or damage. An example of this would be a car accident
where a drunk driver injured a pregnant woman and her child is born with
serious defects caused by the accident. Or someone who assaulted a
pregnant woman and caused defects in the child that was subsequently
born.
Ironically, the law does not specify the rights of a fetus who is NOT
"subsequently born" but dies as a result of the criminal action. Given
the legality of abortion, it seems a defense attorney could argue that
the fetus had no rights at the time of its death. That, in order to have
any rights with respect to the assault, the fetus would have had to
survived long enough to be "subsequently born."
But then again, I'm not a lawyer, so don't let me rain on your parade
here. :)
Bill
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