Man will be sentenced for abortion, assault though fetus survived

:wtf:

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/08/abortion.charge.ap/

TROY, New York (AP) -- A man who stabbed his pregnant girlfriend will go to prison for performing an illegal abortion, even though the child survived.

Sean Brown, 20, of Albany, pleaded guilty Friday in Rensselaer County Court to one count each of abortion and assault. He will be sentenced June 2 to prison terms of 11 years for assault and one to three years for abortion, prosecutors said.

Abortion is illegal in New York if it causes or intends to cause a miscarriage without the woman's consent, or if it is performed by someone other than a licensed physician.

Brown lunged at Rowlett in her darkened apartment and stabbed her 10 times in the fingers, thigh, hip and abdomen shortly after she told him she was two months pregnant, police said. The July 2003 attack left her permanently injured and disfigured.

He assaulted the woman and attempted to perform a medical procedure upon her. He deserves to be charged with performing an abortion with the consent of the woman.

It was a general attack, not a specific one against her uterus.

If this guy gets nailed with this silly charge, then anybody who stabs anybody else will be charged with "performing an illegal medical procedure."

This guy is obviously worth charging with attempted murder. That should be sufficient. Only the fetus fetishists would want him charged with anything else.

Unless, of course, you think stabbing somebody in the finger is part of an illegal abortion.

has been a push from the anti-abortion groups these past couple of weeks giving "personhood" to a fetus.

These charges were brought before all the latest rhetoric on that issue, so IMHO it was an early attempt on testing the idea of protecting a 2 month old fetus.

Perhaps the woman was upset and wanted this guy to get nailed for trying to "kill her baby", making the illegal abortion charge the only way to do that. While I can certainly feel for her in that regard (if it's true - only an assumption on my part), I am more upset that the guy didn't get nailed with attempted murder of the woman. This just seems to me to elevate the life and status of the fetus, with less regard to the woman. Gives me that "slipperly slope" feeling.

But yes, he should have definitely be charged with attempted murder.

Wouldn't attempted murder get him much more time? Cause he really needs to be locked up for as many years as a judge can possibly give him. This assault and "illegal" abortion is total shite.

if there is a legal difference between the two. (There probably isn't, judging by the sentence above.)

But, see -- this is how "fetal homocide" should be prosecuted. Illegal abortion.

when they are pregnant. They are more like chattel, an expensive vase or vessel carrying something deemed more important. I hate that the emphasis is on her being pregnant, not the attempted murder.

I don't mind that the additional charge might get the man a longer prison sentence, but this is the wrong way to go about it: redesign the sentencing rules instead.

and personally I think that 11 years is not long enough based on the fact that she is now disfigured.

However to charge him with abortion is really odd. He should have been charged with attempted murder (perhaps he was but it was reduced to assault????)

I agree though that women are somtimes viewed as a child bearing vessel in these cases.

abortion??? He assaulted her. WTF does it have to do with abortion??

Stabs to the fingers, thighs, etc. undoubtably occurred when the woman was trying to get away or defend herself. Did you think she was just going to lie there, in the darkened room, and let someone continue to take aim at whatever part of her body he chooses?

Reality check.

Maybe he WAS charged with attempted murder, but bargianed it down to assault and illegal abortion in return for pleading guilty.

That we don't know what he admitted to, or what he said he reasons were for the attack. But regardless, it is still an attempted murder in my book, not of the fetus, but of the lady who was around before the fetus. But my gurlfriends and I have been commenting on how dangerous is it becoming to be pregnant in this country.