SamSaid!

PETERSON

     At last  –  maybe at last  –  we will be spared the daily recitation of the tragic and horrifying events of a year ago when Scott Peterson killed his pregnant wife and dumped her body into San Francisco Bay. But the Murder I and Murder II jury verdicts will no doubt spawn a series of appeals and charges of trial irregularities that will continue for years. Personally, I have no ongoing interest in all of the gory details of the killings or the legal entanglements that assuredly will make scurrilous lawyers more wealthy. But the one aspect of this entire saga that intirigues me is the status of unborn son, Connor Peterson.

     The verdict of Murder II for the killing of unborn son Conner clearly establishes that the unborn infant was a “person” in every sense of the word. If the fetus was not considered a person, then there would have been no case for Murder II. But with the verdict of Murder II now rendered, it is firmly established that Conner, unborn, was a person in the eyes of the law. We might compare this with a case of a woman, eight months pregnant, who decides to abort her pregnancy.  Under Roe v. Wade, she may abort, with no penalty.

     Under our complex set of laws, it seems to me that we can't have it both ways. If a fetus aborted at the decision of the mother , regardless of the pregnancy duration, is not a person (legally), then how can that fetus be considered a “person” if the pregnancy is terminated for other causes? I keep reading these articles (the pro-choice folks) claiming that a fetus is not a living human being. That's what these people keep telling us. But if that is so, how does the killing of a fetus (see Scott Peterson)  suddenly qualify as Murder II?

     Make no mistake, I have no sympathy for Scott Peterson, and from what I know of the  case he is guilty as sin. But totally aside from his guilt or innocence, I think the legal system has to come to grips with the status of an “unborn”. Maybe there is a simple explanation of this paradox; but if so, I sure haven't seen it.

     Is a fetus a person or not? Is that so difficult to determine?? Evidently, it is.