Rights and duties accrue when an entity has a legal personality. Legal personality is different from being a living entity. Unborn child, dead people and corporations have certain legal rights and duties even though they are not living persons.
An unborn child has a right not be harmed, a right that he can enforce through his mother. If a person causes a woman to miscarry or harms her in any way that harms the child, the child can sue through his mother.
However, there is also an issue of at what stage of pregnancy does that living entity comes into existence. Is it right at conception, or when the heart beat develops around six weeks or later on when the fetus becomes viable?
Another issue that is pertinent is the right of life of a foetus versus that of the mother. Can a woman abort an unwanted pregnancy or a pregnancy that is harmful for her? A number of countries allow abortion if the pregnancy is harmful for the mother's physical health while there are others where innocent women have lost their lives because they were not allowed to abort. Similarly, where an unborn child is carrying some birth defect and cannot lead a healthy life, it becomes a contentious issue whether or not abortion can be permissible.
An unborn child, thus, has a legal personality that gives him the right to not be harmed in any way. He can get this right enforced through his mother who has the right to sue on his behalf.
An unborn child has a right not be harmed, a right that he can enforce through his mother. If a person causes a woman to miscarry or harms her in any way that harms the child, the child can sue through his mother.
However, there is also an issue of at what stage of pregnancy does that living entity comes into existence. Is it right at conception, or when the heart beat develops around six weeks or later on when the fetus becomes viable?
Another issue that is pertinent is the right of life of a foetus versus that of the mother. Can a woman abort an unwanted pregnancy or a pregnancy that is harmful for her? A number of countries allow abortion if the pregnancy is harmful for the mother's physical health while there are others where innocent women have lost their lives because they were not allowed to abort. Similarly, where an unborn child is carrying some birth defect and cannot lead a healthy life, it becomes a contentious issue whether or not abortion can be permissible.
An unborn child, thus, has a legal personality that gives him the right to not be harmed in any way. He can get this right enforced through his mother who has the right to sue on his behalf.
