Posted on 12/01/2005 9:38:32 AM PST by FeeinTennessee
LAW OF THE LAND Ruling: Pregnant moms can harm babies at will Court says unborn children not 'human,' mothers can't be prosecuted for conduct
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: November 30, 2005 11:14 p.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
The Supreme Court of Hawaii has ruled that unborn children are not "human beings," and therefore women cannot be prosecuted for causing the death of babies by harmful behavior during their pregancies.
The unanimous decision overturns the manslaughter conviction of 32-year-old Tayshea Aiwohi, who was found guilty in connection with the death of her newborn son by smoking crystal methamphetamine shortly before his birth.
"I'm extremely happy and grateful," said Aiwohi. "I believe [the case] changed me into a better person and I just hope to share that with others."
"My son can finally lay to rest," her husband, Kimo Aiwohi, told reporters. "And I'm very happy for my wife."
Tayshea gave birth to her son, Treyson, July 15, 2001, but the boy perished within two days with high levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system, according to the local coroner.
The woman allegedly admitted to using the drugs for three days before the birth and took a "hit" on the morning her son was delivered.
In their ruling, the justices cited statutes noting a crime needed to be committed against "a human being." They declared since Treyson was not a "person" when Tayshea was smoking the drugs, she could not be prosecuted for harming the infant in her womb.
"The proscribed conduct must have been committed at a time when Treyson 'qualified' as a 'person,' defined by the Hawaii Penal Code as 'a human being who has been born and is alive,'" they wrote.
"It is so insane," Nancy Heisser of Grants Pass, Ore., told WorldNetDaily. "A little baby died, and the mother walks away scot-free. This is a travesty against this little one."
Beyond this specific case, some are worried about the decision's impact in the future.
"If something happens to any fetus under any circumstance, by [this] ruling, there could be no prosecution in any circumstance," Republican State Sen. Sam Slom told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Rep. Sylvia Luke, D-Honolulu
But House Judiciary Chairwoman Sylvia Luke, a Democrat, agrees with the decision.
"At least from the Judiciary Committee's standpoint, we don't have any interest in changing the current law to allow for such prosecution. I think that runs into a very dangerous ground because it can be expanded to not just drugs, but the state infringing on the woman's life when the woman is pregnant," Luke told the paper. "Are we now going to say that pregnant woman can't smoke or [dictate] how much calcium a person would take?"
Interestingly, while pregnant mothers are shielded from prosecution for their own detrimental behavior, others are not.
Under the new, federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, people other than the mother who cause the death of an unborn child can face prosecution for the baby's demise.
Laci Peterson
Also known as "Laci and Conner's Law," the measure was enacted in the wake of the murder of Laci Peterson of Modesto, Calif., and her unborn son. Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, was convicted of murder and is currently on death row.
In June, Gerardo Flores of Texas was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison after kicking his pregnant girlfriend repeatedly in the stomach to cause her to lose the couple's twins. The girlfriend, Erica Basoria, did not want the babies to be born and allowed Flores to kick her, but she was not charged with any wrongdoing by the state of Texas.
Such a scenario worries John Long, executive director of the Hawaii Right to Life.
"If that had been a boyfriend or a husband pressuring [Tayshea] to take crack or alcohol ... that would damage the unborn child, the ruling would have been entirely different," he told the Star-Bulletin. "I think that's where we got to come to grips with some sort of an equitable standard that is right for all."
According to the Honolulu Advertiser, "no appeals court in the country has upheld a prosecution for the death of a baby based on the mother's conduct while pregnant."
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Her own blood type...
"The Supreme Court of Hawaii has ruled that unborn children are not "human beings," "
Obviously, a political decision and not a medical one.
Have mercy, O Lord, for we are a profane people.
Tayshea gave birth to her son, Treyson, July 15, 2001, but the boy perished within two days
This baby was born alive. He breathed air into his lungs for two days.
the Hawaii Penal Code defines a person as someone "who has been born and is alive".
But because she harmed him before he became a person, even though he was person when he died, she isn't guilty? This is so illogical. I am flummoxed.
I'm reminded that fewer people were killed in Iraq this past year than were killed for the sake of convenience through abortion.
Simply send her and her per-natal "it" to Florida. That will solve the dilemma. /sarc
45 million Americans murdered by the democrat party since 1973. Approximately equal to the number of illegal immigrants sine that time.
I listen to the local Clear Channel talk radio station through the web. They don't play all of the advertisements (maybe they carry the national sponsors, I don't know what the difference is).
They play some inhouse filler announcements and a lot of PSAs (some sponsored by Sierra Club and some generically by the Ad Council).
Several describe the number of children killed around the world by AIDS. The tagline is "Apathy is lethal." The number of children murdered by abortion far dwarfs that figure. Apathy IS lethal.
Here is another great example of the down the rabbit hole insanity that abortion "law" is. A few years ago in Chicago, a married manager of a fast food resturant was charged with the murder of his girlfriend and her unborn child. It seems that he knocked her up, and she came to extort him for hush money, part of which was to go for an abortion. He killed her because he didn't want to pay the dough for it.
While the murder charges for the girlfriend are easy to understand, I was struck as to how there was almost no discussion of the fact that he got charged for achieving precisely the same objective for the child that the "mother" was seeking and that she would have been entirely free of legal consequence for by having the deed performed by a medical hitman.
Aside from the grave moral implications, abortion law is also the greatest insult to logic and linear reasoning that was ever perpetrated by man or Supreme court justice!!!
The Doomsday clock just clicked forward another tick. Only a matter of time now before the Father says, "Enough already!".
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