Posted on 06/17/2004 1:23:05 PM PDT by Kentucky
Kentucky Right to Life Association is pleased that the antiquated common law of “born alive” that was used in the Hollis case in the 1980s has been discarded in the Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Christopher Charles Morris decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court today. At that time, unborn baby Hollis – 7 months of age – was denied justice.
Today’s Kentucky Supreme Court decision will allow a prosecutor the right to file for two homicides if the mother and her viable unborn infant are both murdered.
Though we are disheartened that today’s decision will not apply retrospectively to the 2001 case in which Veronica Thornsbury and her baby, Haley Natasha, were killed by Christopher Morris in his pickup truck while they were on the way to the baby’s delivery at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital, it is a decisive victory for justice in such cases in the future.
The fetal homicide law passed by the Kentucky General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Fletcher in February 2004 is also additional protection for the unborn child from fertilization onward.
As Justice Donald Wintersheimer stated in his concurring opinion, “There is no good reason why we should discriminate against unborn children and treat their cases any differently than those of any other human being. Medical authority has long recognized that an unborn child is in existence from the moment of conception.”
Wow. I would not have expected this from our Court, which is still heavily Democratic. I see the Wintersheimer quote was from a concurring opinion, so it will be interesting to see if the majority avoided using the same justification.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.