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And if the mother is a smoker- or a drinker- that miscarriage would have to be treated as a suspicous death- reported to authorities for investigation to see if the mother was guilty of gross or simple negligence that resulted in the death of a child.
That reads like fear mongering.
Miscarriages happen naturally every day.
Realistically speaking, the only time a miscarriage would "have to be" reported or investigated would be in cases where criminal negligence or intent can be proven by a prosecutor.
Not so quick.
Remember- what you want us all to agree to is that at the moment of conception- that fetus is exactly the same legally as a 5 year old child.
Correction.
They are the same Constitutionally. As they are all "persons."
A five year old (born in the U.S.) is something that a prenatal child (even the same child) is not or was not. That is - a five year old child is "born." That makes them a "citizen."
I hope you can appreciate the fact that there is a difference and a distinction (even in our Constitution) between a "person" and a "citizen."
If a 5 year old child dies, a death certificate would have to be issued, including a cause of death.
You are talking in platitudes.
Do you claim that every 5 year old that has ever died has been issued a death certificate?
Are you claiming that a five year old that dies and does not get a death certificate was any less a human being / person when they were alive?
Our constitution makes no such requirement for personhood.
If the child had been forced to consume alcohol or nicotine by his mother, and that appeared to be related to his death, certainly the mother could be charged with manslaughter or murder.
As well she should be charged for something like that.
Do you disagree?
And a pregnant woman is certainly forcing alcohol and nicotine on her fetus.
Yeah. And some women have already been charged and prosecuted for that - even without laws banning abortion.
Your point is?
What about women who 'starve' their fetus because they starve themselves?
What about them?
Remember- you want to treat the fetus exactly like a born child.
I want consistency in our laws.
Do you agree that it is an inconsistency for a bank robber to be charged with MURDER for even accidentally killing a child in the womb during a criminal act. . . but if the same woman INTENTIONALLY kills that same child by starving it to death or by ingesting drugs to kill it will face no charges at all?
If the neighbor down the street had her 5 year old die- and never told anyone but just buried the 5 year old in the backyard.....would there be any legal ramifications?
Probably.
But that doesn't prove that her child was any less a "person" if she doesn't get charged in that case. Does it? The answer is no. And that's why your argument with that is a red herring / non sequitur.
Now lets look at what happens when a woman has a miscarriage at 6 weeks. Treating that fetus like a child- why wouldn't that mother be obligated to not only tell authorities of her pregnancy(as she would a birth) but also of the death of the fetus?
That sort of thing would be left up to the States. I can see States passing such a requirement. however, it would not be absolutely necessary for a State to do so - in order to pass OTHER laws to protect the rights of children in the womb.
You call this fear mongering- I am pointing out that IF you insist that a newly implanted fetus is exactly the legally as a 5 year old child- then everything that applies to how we treat a living child- including the death of a living child- would necessarily be the same.
That is incorrect and it is still fear mongering too. because we used to have laws against abortions in this country before and none of the States at that time had laws requiring anything close to what you are proposing. Indeed, there are many countries where abortion is already banned today and none of them are taking it to the extreme that you are worried about.