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Comment by lotsofpulp | Hacker News Reader

No one is killing fetuses in the 38th week for fun. Not moms, and not doctors.

The reason to keep the legal system out of it is because there are a million things that can go wrong in pregnancies and child birth, and the doctor does not need the added complication of having to think about legal liability in the heat of the moment.

Women make a tremendous sacrifice when choosing to bear children. The issue of abortion is sufficiently handled between the pregnant mother and doctors.

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/04/raw-data-abor...

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A baby that will certainly die at birth, or likely cause death to the mother, is one thing.

A perfectly healthy baby 1 day before birth that is put to death is entirely different. There is nothing magical about birth that makes it OK to slit the throat of a healthy baby.

As a thought experiment, imagine a healthy baby born premature 1 day early. Could you take a knife and stab it to death as it screams and cries? If not, perhaps it is indeed murder.

That’s quite the straw man. Can you point to a case where that actually happened?

I'll add that the French had an anonymous baby depository for women who couldn't afford to care for their children.

I don't think it's a straw man. They were using a hypothetical scenario as an analogy.

Infanticide was a completely normal part of life in almost all historical societies though usually by drowning or smothering because they’re quieter. Exceptions are the Egyptians, Jews, Christians and Moslems. The PRC felt the need to legislate against it specifically when they conquered the last of the RoC holdouts in China in 1949 so I don’t think we need to imagine infanticide.

I am having trouble figuring out why infanticide (killing a baby that has already been born) entered a conversation about ensuring a pregnant mom and doctor are able to make healthcare decisions unencumbered from legal liabilities.

If you read the post I was replying to or the one it was replying to you may be enlightened.

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