Word: fetus
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Edelin was sentenced to one year's probation on February 18, after his conviction for manslaughter in connection with the death of a fetus he aborted...
...crime in itself. Furthermore the jury dealt with the judge's instructions haphazardly, substituting, for his stipulation that it must find Edelin guilty of "wanton and reckless" conduct in order to convict, its own speculation that he might have been remiss in checking to see if the fetus were alive upon removal, and was hence guilty...
...grounds for an argument against the jury system. Clearly, this case never should have made it to that stage at all. This was a case where both sides argued over uncertain points of law that should have been defined from the outset; at what age is a prematurely delivered fetus considered capable of life apart from the mother? What degree of separation from the mother constitutes birth? What is manslaughter? And even, what is abortion? The attorneys spent most of the six-week trial arguing not about the circumstances of the involved operation, but about which of the possible legal...
...five minutes Friday morning, during a one and a half hour discussion of the duties of a jury, the judge addressed these questions finally. What McGuire should have done then was to conclude that Edelin was innocent--in light of his definition of birth as the separation of the fetus from the mother and in light of the overwhelming evidence from both prosecution and defense that the fetus was dead when it was removed from the womb. McGuire did not acquit Edelin, unfortunately, but gave those definitions to the jury. Inevitably, the recollection of those five minutes from the judge...
Finally, The Crimson has shown the disturbing practice of presenting only one side of the issue in this case. Instead of attacking the raving maniacal anti-abortionists, perhaps it would be simpler to just try to understand what they are saying: once conceived a human fetus is alive; humanity is not dependent on personality or looks or age or independence, but simply on the genetic structure that says this living matter is human. --Tom Keane...