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Texas Wesleyan Law Review

Michelle Haynes

Publication Date

10-1-2004

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

A fetus should not be labeled an "individual" if it is only going to receive some of the protection from third parties to which an individual is entitled. Instead, this Comment urges the Texas Legislature to repeal the criminal penalties portion of the Prenatal Protection Act and replace it with a criminal statute that protects a woman's right to carry her pregnancy to term and provides enhancements for injuries to a pregnant woman or alternatively, a criminal statute that protects the potential life of the unborn fetus as an "individual" and does not provide exceptions for the mother's conduct when she commits an assaultive or intoxicated crime upon the fetus. Even though the Texas Legislature may have thought it was acting with good intentions, the criminal penalties portion of the Prenatal Protection Act only creates further conflicts between the rights of a pregnant woman and those of her unborn child. Part II of this Comment describes the evolution of maternal and fetal rights by exploring their development in American Jurisprudence and by discussing certain conflicts of rights that have already occurred between a woman and her fetus. Part III describes the passage of the Prenatal Protection Act in the Texas Legislature, while Part IV introduces the conflicts of rights created by its passage. Finally, Part V recommends that the Texas Legislature repeal the criminal penalties portion of the Prenatal Protection Act and replace it with a criminal statute that provides for an enhancement for injuries to a pregnant woman or at least with a statute that eliminates the exceptions for a mother's conduct when her actions would constitute an assaultive or intoxicated offense if committed by a third party.

DOI

10.37419/TWLR.V11.I1.7

First Page

131

Last Page

155

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