US centric

[peace_corps_grl]

***Domestic Violence triggers***

Killer of Mesa woman, fetus gets 36-year sentence
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic

The first defendant convicted in Maricopa County of second-degree murder in the slaying of an unborn child was sentenced Friday to 36 years in prison.

Jorge Mario Gurrola, 25, was found guilty by jurors in January of striking his

Comments

[bestdaywelived]

Women are not worth less than fetuses, damnit!

[unearthingbone]

Women are not worth less than fetuses, damnit!

WTF? A human is a human, whether they're a year old, 90 years old, 20 years old, or eight weeks into development. Come on now. I don't think it's right that the death of the fetus got him more years in jail (if we're applying the "a human is a human" argument, the sentences should have been equal), but fetuses are not worth less than women, either.

[we_are_pliable]

In any question of reproductive choice, one has to choose the bodily integrity/ rights of the gamete/zygote/embryo/fetus or the bodily integrity/ rights of the woman carrying it. They cannot be equal. This ruling is one of the first prosecutions of a federal law that was drafted and signed in order to exert the rights of fetuses. It's symbolic of a culture that eventually wants to make the fetus come before the mother in most situations. See also the FDA advisory that all women of childbearing age are to be considered "pre-pregnant."

[mobiletash]

Pre-pregnant?? I am pre-pregnant?? I don't know how I can cope!

[muero_de_risa]

that makes no sense. he should have been charged with manslaughter on two counts...which should send him to prison for close to the end of his life. i haven't gone to law school or anything, but i have studied law in stenography school, so i'm not just pulling anything out of my ass.

the justice system is fucked.

[eee_eph]

he should have been charged with manslaughter on two counts

I respectfully disagree. The foetus was eight weeks old. The woman was 21 years old. His punishment for murdering his girlfriend should have been more than the subsequent death of the foetus she was carrying.

[bestdaywelived]

She was murdered. The woman's life was ended by his violence. There was no manslaugther involved - it was straight up murder.

[eee_eph]

Woah, just reading that third line (...sentenced Gurrola to 16 years in the slaying of Monica Sanchez and 20 years in the killing of her unborn child) made me so angry! How on earth can killing a foetus be 'worth' more than a living, breathing woman with an actual life? What a ridiculous sentence.

[auntysarah]

The foetus might have been male...

[transformergeek]

HA!

[paperclipchains]

That was my first reaction, sadly.

[amanda_mary]

At eight weeks, I don't even think it would be classified as a fetus, but, instead, an embryo. In any case, there is no way that an eight-week pregnancy could result in a viable birth, which makes this even more nonsensical and, like conceptual_tea mentioned, sets a really scary precedent.

[unearthingbone]

I agree. It does set a dangerous precedent, especially for future abortion legislation.

[urbankat]

Yes, embryo is the correct term from 2 weeks after fertization until the end of 8 weeks in humans. Fetus is used after the end of 8 weeks (once all major organs are present) until birth in humans.

[celesteh]

I wonder how the math for this works. If it was a 6 week old feturs, would he have got 25? An 8 year old girl and it would have been 17 years? How does our legal value change as we age?

On a non-snarky note, women are more likely to be killed by domestic abuse when they are pregnant vs when they are not. I doubt this mis-named law has much deterrent effect, though.