Just recently, I read of an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that held, "a reference in state law that prevents exposing children to dangerous chemicals also protects an unborn child". This is great news for the voiceless unborn!
I am going to take the liberty (no pun intended) of quoting from a Liberty Counsel press release on January 11, 2013:
"Today the Alabama Supreme Court held that the word “child” in Alabama’s chemical endangerment statute applies to the born and unborn in Ankrom v. State. Liberty Counsel's amicus brief argued that the protection of the unborn is in keeping with the protections afforded the born in various areas of the law.
Ankrom v. State of Alabama involved the consolidation of two cases, which address the question of whether Alabama’s law against chemical endangerment of children can be applied to unborn children who are exposed to illegal drugs in utero. Courts of appeal in Alabama upheld convictions of mothers who were charged under the chemical endangerment law, when their children tested positive for illegal drugs at birth.
Liberty Counsel’s brief provided the Alabama Supreme Court with a thorough historical review of legal protection for unborn children, dating from ancient Greece to the present day. Common law in England and the United States, with support from the medical and legal professions, recognized that “[l]ife is the immediate gift of God, a right inherent in every individual; and it begins in contemplation of law as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother’s womb.” This understanding remained the prevailing view in the United States through the middle of the 20th Century, when a societal shift prompted a “liberalization” of criminal laws, including restrictions against abortion, culminating in the abortion cases, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, (1973) and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973), in which the Supreme Court held that unborn children are not “persons” protected by the right to life set forth in the Constitution."
In addition, Luther Strange, the Alabama Attorney General said, "The Court has ratified our argument that the public policy of our state is to protect life, both born and unborn. It is a tremendous victory that the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed the value of all life, including those of unborn children whose lives are among the most vulnerable of all."
According to the NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures) currently, at least 38 states have fetal homicide laws which include: *Alabama , Alaska , *Arizona , Arkansas , California , Colorado , Florida , *Georgia ,
*Idaho , *Illinois ,
Indiana , Iowa ,
*Kansas , *Kentucky ,
*Louisiana , Maine ,
Maryland , Massachusetts ,
Michigan , *Minnesota ,
*Mississippi , *Nebraska ,
Nevada , *North Carolina ,
*North Dakota , *Ohio ,
*Oklahoma , *Pennsylvania ,
Rhode Island , *South
Carolina , *South Dakota , *Tennessee , *Texas , *Utah , Virginia , Washington , *West Virginia and *Wisconsin
(States with an asterisk (*) next to their name have fetal homicide laws that apply to the earliest stages of pregnancy - "any state of gestation", "conception", "fertilization" or "post-fertilization")
Where does your state stand?
Ankrom v. State of Alabama involved the consolidation of two cases, which address the question of whether Alabama’s law against chemical endangerment of children can be applied to unborn children who are exposed to illegal drugs in utero. Courts of appeal in Alabama upheld convictions of mothers who were charged under the chemical endangerment law, when their children tested positive for illegal drugs at birth.
Liberty Counsel’s brief provided the Alabama Supreme Court with a thorough historical review of legal protection for unborn children, dating from ancient Greece to the present day. Common law in England and the United States, with support from the medical and legal professions, recognized that “[l]ife is the immediate gift of God, a right inherent in every individual; and it begins in contemplation of law as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother’s womb.” This understanding remained the prevailing view in the United States through the middle of the 20th Century, when a societal shift prompted a “liberalization” of criminal laws, including restrictions against abortion, culminating in the abortion cases, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, (1973) and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973), in which the Supreme Court held that unborn children are not “persons” protected by the right to life set forth in the Constitution."
In addition, Luther Strange, the Alabama Attorney General said, "The Court has ratified our argument that the public policy of our state is to protect life, both born and unborn. It is a tremendous victory that the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed the value of all life, including those of unborn children whose lives are among the most vulnerable of all."
According to the NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures) currently, at least 38 states have fetal homicide laws which include: *
(States with an asterisk (*) next to their name have fetal homicide laws that apply to the earliest stages of pregnancy - "any state of gestation", "conception", "fertilization" or "post-fertilization")
Where does your state stand?
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