CRIMES AND OFFENSES Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Persons Convicted of Such Offenses; Amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Serious Traffic Offenses, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vehicle; Amend Title 52 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions Concerning Registration, Operation and Sales of Watercraft, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vessel; Provide for Definitions; Provide for Exceptions; Provide for Applicability; Provide an Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes

Authors

Georgia State University Law Review

Document Type

Peach Sheet

Abstract

The Act makes it a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature to commit an assault against a pregnant female. The Act provides a definition for the phrase 'unborn child': A member of the species homo sapiens at any state of development who is carried in the womb. Using this definition, the Act makes it an offense of assault to attempt to injure an unborn child that is subsequently born alive. Using the new definition of an unborn child, the Act makes it an offense of battery to intentionally inflict physical harm against an unborn child that is subsequently born alive. Assault is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and battery is a misdemeanor. Additionally, the new definition of unborn child amends the offense of feticide by removing the the requirement that the fetus be 'quick.' Thus, feticide now covers the willful killing of all unborn children, regardless of the stage of development in the womb. Additionally, the Act provides for felony feticide in the event a fetus is killed during the commission of a felony. Finally, the new definition is used to create the felony offense of manslaughter of an unborn child, punishable by imprisonment of one to twenty years.

Recommended Citation

Georgia State University Law Review, CRIMES AND OFFENSES Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Persons Convicted of Such Offenses; Amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Serious Traffic Offenses, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vehicle; Amend Title 52 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions Concerning Registration, Operation and Sales of Watercraft, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vessel; Provide for Definitions; Provide for Exceptions; Provide for Applicability; Provide an Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes, 23 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. (2012).
Available at: https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/gsulr/vol23/iss1/6