HARTFORD, May 8, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Connecticut’s top court has astonishingly ruled that an unborn baby (i.e., a “fetus”) is merely a body part, and compared babies in the womb to teeth, skin and hair that are eventually shed.
The judges said this while unanimously upholding the conviction of Edwin Sandoval, sentenced to 12 years in 2001 for inserting ulcer medication into his girlfriend’s vagina to induce a miscarriage of their unborn baby. Sandoval had tried to argue he should not be charged with attempted aggravated assault because he was trying to harm the baby, not the mother. Fortunately, the woman later gave birth to a healthy boy. The problem with such views of the “fetus” is that they become legal precedent, says Dr. Dianne Irving, a pro-life commentator. “Once false science is incorporated into a law or regulation it ceases to be science anymore and becomes instead ‘stare decisis’—or, legal precedent” and therefore hard to reverse in the legal record. In one highlight, however, Chief Justice William J. Sullivan said in the Connecticut ruling that a “fetus” could also have “its own independent existence. … In other words, the fetus may both be a part of its mother as well as its own individual being.” For local coverage: https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-07173240.apds.m0068.bc-ct—scocmay07,0,7442277.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire