You succinctly described the need for fetal homicide laws. “Few topics in American jurisprudence have generated as much ideological debate as the status and rights of the unborn” (Holzapfel, 2002). As you noted, the unborn should be protected from violence due to their inherent vulnerability. “The experience of violence during pregnancy has been linked to a number of adverse fetal outcomes including low birth weight, preterm labor and/or delivery, low maternal weight gain, kidney infection, antepartum hemorrhage, cesarean delivery, fetal wastage/miscarriage and fetal/neonatal death” (Taillieu & Brownridge, 2010). By defining a fetus as a “person,” as a society we give notice to those that will do harm to pregnant women that they will be prosecuted
