Feticide Laws

On Tuesday, 23 October 2012, police in Walker, Louisiana (USA) responded to a 911 call to find that a man, possibly under the influence of psychoactive drugs, had stabbed his seven month pregnant wife and cut the baby out of her body.  There is an unconfirmed report that the child was stabbed in the head. 

The mother survived but the baby died.  The father has been charged with one charge of feticide and one charge of attempted second degree murder.  Second degree murder is a non-premeditated killing from an attack so dangerous that a result of death is a real possibility.

Thirty-eight of the fifty United States recognize the “unborn child” as a human homicide victim.  The laws vary in their details, with some covering differing periods of a pregnancy.

In 2004, then United States President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which views unborn children as humans if they are injured or killed during the commission of a list of specific federal crimes, including terrorism.

The United States courts have declared that these laws do not apply to legal abortions.  My question is, “Why not?”  Is the only difference that the murdered child is wanted and the aborted child is not? 

Embryo Adoption

As a follow-up to my series of posts on Why Life Begins At Conception, here is something to think about from the edges of reproductive science: embryo adoption.

In-vitro fertilization is the procedure of fertilization of human eggs outside of the mother’s body and their subsequent implantation in the uterus..  This procedure is used when, for various reasons, it is highly unlikely, dangerous, or impossible for fertilization to occur in the natural way.   The procedure can be used for non-spousal donor fertilization, for fertilization after the death of the husband, or for implantation into surrogate mothers.  Some lesbians use this method to become pregnant.

It is common for 10 to 30 eggs to be chosen for fertilization.  The healthiest eggs are incubated for about 18 hours in a concentrated solution of sperm.  Any eggs which become fertilized are graded on several factors to choose those which will optimize the expected pregnancy rate.  With women under 30 the pregnancy rate approaches 50%.  The rate drops off sharply as the mother’s age approaches or exceeds 40.

Two to three of the optimal eggs will be implanted into the mother’s uterus.   The fate of the other fertilized embryos then becomes a controversial question.  Many agree with former US president George W. Bush that “These boys and girls are not spare parts.”

What currently happens:

1.     Many of the fertilized embryos are discarded or are donated to research laboratories.

2.     Some embryos are donated to other couples who are otherwise unable to conceive.

3.     Some of the embryos are intentionally implanted when conception is unlikely, letting “nature take its course.”

4.     Some couples pay to maintain their unused embryos in a frozen state. There are currently about 400,000 to 600,000 frozen embryos in the United States.

A growing movement among evangelicals is embryo adoption.  In 2003, there were about 11,500 embryo adoptions in the United States.  By 2010, the number had risen to about 15,000.

“The earliest Christians were distinguished by their care for those society discarded.  Embryo adoption seems to me a seminal way to do such a thinhg here in the third millennium.”  Gabriel Fluhrer. 

Why Life Begins At Conception, Part 1

Over the next few days I will be posting, in several parts, on the subject, Why Life Begins at Conception.  The posts may not be on consecutive days but they will make the most sense to you if they are read in consecutive order. 

The subject has become a very hot topic in the United States because of the poorly thought out comments (I would say something more harsh except for the nature of this blog) of one of the current United States Representatives. 

The current controversy concerns abortion and certain types of contraception and the timing of when a developing fetus becomes “human.”  Does life begin at conception or sometime later in the pregnancy? Does the developing fetus have legal rights as a person?

The question is presented by many as a religious question, and it is, but a rational and scientific case can be made for opposition to abortion without any reference to religion.  Many people will not listen to a religious argument, but they might listen to a scientific one.

The posts in this series will present, in a highly simplified way, the scientific information necessary for a case against abortion and some forms of birth control.  Also, the very strong emotions of persons on both sides of the issue will be discussed.

1.     This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog.

2.     I am qualified to present this particular scientific information because my undergraduate degree is in biology with a concentration in developmental genetics and embryology.

A Little Mother

Today at work I saw a little girl (I really can't say young woman) who was very obviously pregnant.  She was perhaps be fourteen years old ... but she looked like she was eleven, maybe twelve.  Her features were those of a pre-teenage girl.


Statistics almost always lag behind reality, but the latest numbers (2007) for births  to unmarried mothers in the United States are alarming: unmarried women accounted for 39.7 percent of all U.S. births in 2007.  Broken down by race: Black women, 72%, Hispanic women 51%, and non-Hispanic White women, 28%.


The numbers are just as troubling in other countries: Iceland, 66%; Sweden, 55%; France, 50%; United Kingdom, 44%.


The little pregnant girl I saw today faces a very bleak future: she may prove loyal to her child(ren) and spend the rest of her life as one of the working poor, or, she may dump the child(ren) with relatives and run off in pursuit of "fun."  Emily Yoffe in the Slate.com article below states that "Studies have found that children born to single mothers are vastly more likely to be poor, have behavioral and psychological problems, drop out of high school, and themselves go on to have out-of-wedlock children." 

All the statistics point out the result of devaluing traditional standards of morality.  Girls/women learn to not value and treasure their bodies and their chastity.  Instead they learn to see themselves as objects, as a commodity which they can use to get "what they want." And, strangely, some "experts" see this as liberating for women.

Christians need to use whatever influence they have to foster the traditional understanding of sexuality only within the bounds of marriage.  It is not the sexuality which is the problem, but the loss of a proper understanding of sexuality.  God gave us sex; sex is holy.  When sex is removed from its proper context, it becomes a destructive force, just another sin, like unbridled greed or unreasoning hatred or a little white lie.  One sin is as good as another.

All sin reduces to the primal sin, the worship of self instead of God.

Three articles about teenage and unwed pregnancy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051301628.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29754561/ns/health-womens_health/t/unwed-birth-rate-reaches-all-time-high-us/

http://www.slate.com/id/2185944/

Embryo Adoption

Many pro-life advocates are opposed to in-vitro (outside the body) fertilization and to embryo storage because "excess" embryos are often discarded or donated for stem cell research. For those of us who believe ** that human life begins at conception, this is nothing short of murder and it presents a special problem for those who, because of other medical conditions, can not get pregnant any other way.

There are currently about 500,000 embryos held in a frozen state. The majority will never be used for implantation. This leaves four possibilities for their future: 1. destroy them; 2. donate them for stem cell research, which results in number 1; 3. donate them to another family, or 4. keep them frozen, which will eventually lead back to number 1. The longest period of freezing known to have resulted in viable implantation is about ten years.

Christian couples who resort to this technique to become pregnant will have "excess" embryos over which they will have legal control. One option is making the frozen embryos available to other infertile couples; ie. embryo adoption, or FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer). This is an "adoption" because the baby is not the biological child of the second couple, but the second couple gets to experience a real pregnancy and a real birth. A failed implantation is not destroying the embryo, but is a failed attempt at pregnancy akin to a miscarriage.

Concerns are the cost (about $6000.00 per attempt), and the strong possibility of a multiple pregnancy.

One company providing this service in an explicitly Christian format is Nightlight Christian Adoptions, see www.EmbryoAdoption.org.

** (This is not just a religious faith statement. There is a solid scientific basis for the declaration that human life begins at conception. See my post on 29 July 2009. You can access the post at the "abortion" keyword at the end of this page.)