From: Steven Durrett 

Jeff -

<< Treat that back alley abortion as what it is... murder. >>

FWIW, to the best of my knowledge, no state has ever treated first
trimester abortion as murder. The Texas statute involved in Roe v. Wade,
for example, provided for a 3-5 year sentence. In contrast, if the fetus
were considered a human being under current Texas law, abortion would
classified as capital murder under Penal Code Sections 19.03(a)(8) (victim
under 6 years of age) and PC Section 19.03(a)(3) (murder for hire). The
penalty for capital murder is life or death (PC Section 12.31), a far cry
from 3-5 years. In short, it is clear that under the statute overturned in
Roe v. Wade, Texas intended to punish the termination of a pregnancy, not
the killing of a human being.

In stating that abortion should be punished as murder, you are not
attempting to overturn Roe v. Wade, you are attempting to overturn law that
has existed since at least the 1600s in both the United States and England.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but you should be aware of
what you are doing.

On another front, even today, most individuals (I don't know where you
stand) and organizations that oppose abortion believe that abortion should
be permitted in cases of rape or incest - which conclusively proves, as far
as I'm concerned, that they do not really believe first trimester fetuses
are, in fact, human beings.

Steve Durrett (retired lawyer, not licensed in any jurisdiction; despite
any references to specific matters of general interest, this message is
merely a discussion of legal theory and principles and should not be used
as legal advice or as the basis for making a decision in connection with
any particular matter)

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