A new bill would consider fetuses as victims of crimes. Currently, each person who was placed in danger of physical injury or loss of life or property as a victim must be counted as a victim. This bill would require a fetus or embryo to be counted as a person as well.
Michigan sentencing guidelines leaves the word victim to a wide interpretation. For Edward Rivet with Right to life Michigan, he agrees with the bill, and said it would allow sentencing to parallel what the conviction was for.
"Obviously, the more serious the crime, the more serious the sentencing, and what this law is saying is that is if there is serious harm ,or death to the unborn child, you're gonna get the same time of penalty as if you or I was a victim of that crime on that level,"Rivet said.
Although most legislators believe there are beneficial parts to the bill, there are some aspects that they have questions about.
"It would require that in the case of any crime including that committed by a pregnant woman, that a court would have to sentence the woman to a higher sentence if her fetus or embryo were endangered. even if the pregnant mother didn't know she was pregnant," Rep. Tim Greimel
said.
He also questions how this bill would apply to a pregnant woman who tries to commit suicide.
