If a person pushes a pregnant woman down the steps in an attempt to kill the fetus, what should the person be charged with if they are successful?

It depends how old the foetus is.

Murder

It depends on how old the fetus is. And whether they also kill the pregnant woman.

If it were up to me, he'd be pushed down the Spanish Steps.

They should be charged with murder with malice aforethought, and with assault.

I'm with you!

Charged with killing a fetus?

You are such a brutal dog!


Come here........

Murder

I don't know. I believe that a foetus is not a person, it is just a collection of cells, but that it has potential to be a life. Therefore if a person kills a foetus, they are knowingly killing something thay could live, which means that a charge should be made for unlawful abortion or something like that.

See my comment in Advanced Stats.

He or she should be charged with murder. Should he be subjected to death penalty? No. Should he be in prison for life? No. What shall we do with him? The humanic thing. Put him in a mental institution where he can be treated like a person.

where are the options?

up a monkeeeeees butt!

Er...I don't know. I think murder is a bit too strong though. Definatley jail though. For about the same length as you would get for attempted murder.

If the fetus was old enough to be viable, then murder.

ewwwwwww ok they can stay there!!! lol

Maybe there should be a crime that is considered more severe than killing a pet, but less severe than killing a human. Then the crime would be either pre-meditated or attempted fetusicide

murder

Assault for pushing the woman down the stairs. Nothing for killing the fetus.

Murder?
I don't know - in the eyes of the law is a foetus a human life?

Murder.
My dad did this to my mom, but was never charged.

Assault at the minimum. I guess anything else would depend on other factors. Jurisdiction, relationship to the pregnant woman, what charges the pregnant woman wishes to file if any...

I assume this is being asked with regard to a US court of law, in which case, I have absolutely no idea what they should be charged with. There must be a precedent for it..... I don't know.

Murder.

Nothing for killing the fetus? Well, if nothing really happens to the pusher, what would keep fathers everywhere from doing something similar to keep from having to pay years of child support?

My wife is pregnant now. We have nine more weeks. There is no question it is a human life.

Oh yay! I love babies. They are so cute. Mine will be 1 on the 18th. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Is this your first one?

Yes, this will be our first. It is a little girl. Her name is Rachel. My wife and I are very excited. What is so funny is when I put my mouth to my wife's stomach and sing, she really get moving around.

Depends on how old is the fetus.If it's under 4 months I guess it could be lesions on the mother, if it's older it's murder.

Maybe I'm too harsh...if the fetus could survive by itself (herself,himself )which I believe could be done at about 5 or 6 months it's a human being then it's murder.If it's younger is assault on the mother.

It depends on if it was planned, etc.

After reading some of the other responses, I would agree that the person should be charged with unlawful abortion (as someone mentioned). I do not believe the charge should be murder. I personally do not believe a fetus is an actual person until birth.

Well, I don't agree and if you were expecting and someone killed your baby you would feel differently.

Unlawful abortion? What would be the penalty? $30 fine?

That's fine if you don't agree. That's why it's called your opinion. We all have different opinions and just as you have yours, I also have mine.

It is true that if I were the pregnant lady, I might feel differently. But, since I've never been pushed down stairs while being pregnant, I would not know. So, therefore, I had to answer the question by the way I feel about that situation now.

I have had a healthy son, who is now 2 1/2. I have also had an abortion and a miscarriage. Yes, I was sad after I had the abortion and after I had the miscarriage. I was sad about what COULD have been. But, I never felt as if I had lost a living child. I had lost a fetus, which is something completely different.

no

Congrads on your son! I am sorry about your miscarriage. It must have been hard. I couldn't imagine.

I don't agree with abortion. I don't see much difference between killing it before it is out of the woman's body and throwing it in the garbage and throwing it in the garbage a week after birth.

Dont know.. its not quite attempted murder, then again its a very serious offence. the law usually has something they can use in situations like this.

I understand that there are a lot of people that are against abortion. That's fine with me. I just think some people take their views about abortion to the extremes. In some situations, such as the one I was in, there's not a lot of other choice but to have an abortion.

Thanks for the congrats on my son. He's a handful, but I love him more than life itself!

Assault (for pushing the woman) and destruction of private property (for killing the fetus if the fetus can't live outside tho womb) or manslaughter (if the fetus could live outside the womb)

As far as my view on abortion, I would think you would think it to be extreme, and wish there wasn't abortion. The real problem, to me, is why all the abortions? Regardless if abortion was right or wrong, isn't there a problem if so many are having them? Maybe we all need to exercise more contstraint. Abortion should not be considered a method of birth control. I know one girl that has had three and all three pregnancies were by different men she had casual relationships with.

In the case of rape, incest, or something similar I agree with abortion 100%. Maybe they should limit abortions to one, if the case is unplanned pregnancy. No, I do not see it as a method of birth control. I strongly believe that you should think about anything and everything that could result BEFORE you have sex. But, sometimes, things do come up and it is best that the child is aborted.

I think we agree on more than what I thought at first. I just do not believe abortion is wrong under any circumstances but if my wife got raped, or her life was in danger if she went to term, I may be put in a position to make a decision that was not consistent with my own moral stands.

I don't think you can ever say you would NEVER do something. Things come up in life where we have to put our morals and/or beliefs aside. Although, we do not completely agree, I think we do agree on some of it.

I think that if you get pregnant and realize that you will never be able to care for your child properly or if you get pregnant by a guy that turns out to be a totally different person than you first though, that abortion is sometimes the best answer. A lot of people would disagree with me and say that adoption would be better. But, I believe, that for some people, adoption would be worse. Knowing you have a child out there in the world somewhere, wondering for years if he/she is okay would be torture. My sister-in-law gave her son up for adoption when she was 15. Her parents basically forced her to. Anyway, she has never had a day of peace since then.

murder