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Is this the logical extension of fetal "personhood" laws?

Asked by Dr_Dredd (10540points) March 3rd, 2010

A pregnant woman in Nicaragua is being denied aggressive treatment for her cancer because of her pregnancy. Nicaragua has a total ban on abortion, even in cases where a woman’s life is in danger. Girls and women who seek an abortion, and health professionals who provide health services associated with abortion, face jail. Doctors are therefore afraid to treat this woman’s cancer because the treatment may endanger the fetus and cause a miscarriage/spontaneous abortion.

Here in the United States, several states are proposing fetal “personhood” laws or state constitutional amendments. This type of legislation would declare that human life begins at conception, and therefore fetuses should have all the same rights that adult humans have. If these laws pass, is a case like the one in Nicaragua inevitable? If a fetus is treated the same as an adult under the law, what will be the result of conflicts pitting a woman against her fetus?

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