Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Unlawful (and Lawful) Taking of Human Life

Tuesday’s Boston Globe front page reports on the first degree homicide conviction of two Boston men:

2 guilty in shooting of mother-to-be
Face life terms in baby's death

After 10 days of deliberation , a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted two men yesterday of first-degree homicide in a brazen 2003 shooting of a pregnant woman on a crowded Orange Line train that resulted in the death of her child. Chimezie Akara, 23, and Andre Green, 22, were each charged with firing an errant hollow point bullet that struck Hawa Barry in the abdomen on Feb. 5, 2003. Barry, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time, survived, but her son died 45 minutes after being delivered by Cesarean section…The two were also found guilty of three counts of armed assault with intent to homicide, three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count each of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. They face mandatory life in prison without parole at sentencing today.

A life prison term without parole is mandatory under Massachusetts law (I believe) for persons convicted of first degree homicide.

The Boston Globe news story is accurate and unbiased. The term homicide can be defined as the unlawful taking of a human life. These men committed that crime. Neither is there ambiguity as to the “birth status” of their homicide victim, since the murdered boy had a Caesarian birth 45 minutes before his tragic death.

Yet it is inescapable to ponder that it is perfectly legal (though uncommon) for a physician to terminate the pregnancy of a woman who is in her 2nd or even 3rd trimester, via the procedure known as IDX to the medical establishment and Partial Birth Abortion to Pro-Lifers. The procedure was used in 0.17% of all abortions in 2000 according to the staunchly pro abortion-rights Alan Guttmacher Institute. There are more than 1 million abortions performed in the US each year, so the number of IDX abortions performed in the US is at least 1700 per year, if the Guttmacher study data reflects current practice. Wikipedia gives the number at 2500-3000 per year.

Today these 2 men are headed for a life sentence not because they shot the mother-to-be. That crime was assault with intent to homicide. The mother is still very much alive. They will receive the mandatory life sentence because in shooting her they took the life of her unborn child. What they did was certainly unlawful, but was what they did any less the “taking of a human life” than are these horrid medical procedures?