Conn. Supreme Court: Fetus Is Body Part

May 8, 2003

Thursday May 8, 2003 12:30 AM

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Angering both sides of the abortion debate, the

Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a fetus is a body part, akin to

teeth, skin and hair that are eventually shed.

The ruling unanimously upheld the conviction of a man who tried to induce a

miscarriage by slipping his girlfriend labor-inducing drugs. Edwin Sandoval

argued he could not be charged with attempting to commit aggravated assault

because the fetus was the target, not the mother.

Though the court held that the 5-week-old fetus was part of the woman's body,

Chief Justice William J. Sullivan issued a separate concurring opinion saying a

fetus might have ``its own independent existence.''

``In other words, the fetus may both be a part of its mother as well as its own

individual being,'' Sullivan wrote.

Anti-abortion groups applauded the court's protection of the fetus, but

criticized the identification of a fetus as a body part.

``It could have had a different blood type, and certainly it had different

DNA,'' said Bill O'Brien, vice president of the Connecticut Right to Life Corp.

Sullivan's opinion, which declared that a fetus may be entitled to legal

protection, drew criticism from abortion rights groups.

``Any time I hear about giving rights to fetuses, I get concerned,'' said

Elaine Werner, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of the National

Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. ``That's the slippery slope to

eroding Roe vs. Wade.''

Sandoval was sentenced in 2001 to 12 years in prison for using ulcer medication

in an attempt to induce a miscarriage. The woman later gave birth to a healthy

son.

Gov. John G. Rowland is expected to sign a bill increasing the penalties for

someone convicted of assaulting a pregnant woman and causing her to lose the

fetus. The assault would be punishable by 10 to 25 years in prison.

Defense attorney Paula Waite said if the fetus is its own life form, the

state's abortion laws are in question. If the fetus is a body part, laws

increasing the penalty for assaulting a pregnant woman could be jeopardized.

Another defense attorney promised to appeal.

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