So I've been thinking about this Bill C-484 thing. I see what they're trying to do, so I've been trying to think of another way to define the fetus that would satisfy the perfectly understandable desire to see people who hurt unborn babies punished, without creating legislative definitions. Yeah, because I'm SO qualified to think of tenuous legal language like that.
Anyway, the idea I'm currently mulling over is that a fetus should be thought of as a positive physical attribute.
We all have a few positive physical attributes. For example, I have a beautiful smile, spectacular breasts, and long silky hair. (And a surfeit of humility). Now most people in the world think these are positive things. There are one or two family members who I suspect aren't too thrilled with the breasts but are too polite to say anything, and my grandmother has said outright that she thinks the length of my hair is disgraceful (ironically, this rather closely mirrors what the reaction would be if I were pregnant), but the vast majority of people see these things a positive, or at least can understand why I like them.
However, I have every right to destroy them if I want. I could pull out all my teeth, get a preventive masectomy, and shave my head. And that is absolutely without question my right, and in no world would it be illegal for me to do any of those things. Futhermore, it is absolutly without question legal for my dentist, doctor, and hairdresser respectively to do those things for me at my request. Some people may question getting these things done electively, some individual practitioners may refuse to help me, but once I can find someone to do it there is no question that they were behaving legally.
But if some other person pulled out my teeth, cut off my breasts, and shaved my head without my consent, that would be bizarre and weird and creepy and clearly illegal.
And if someone attacked me, and as a side-effect of their attack I lost my teeth, breasts, and hair, that would surely make their crime come across as worse. Again, I don't the exact legal terms, but it would be a big part of the victim impact. Any decent prosecuting attorney would show the jury a picture of me posing like a movie star to show off my figure to its best advantage, a veela smile on my face and the ends of my hair grazing my hips, then have them compare it with the bald, toothless, flat-chested woman on the witness stand. And that would surely make the crime look worse than if I had come out looking exactly the same.
Now you're thinking "You shallow bitch, a baby is FAR more important than your hair!" Which is perfectly true, and which is why these things would be evaluated in a matter of degrees rather than as a true or false question. If my attacker had simply shaved my head or pulled out my hair, that wouldn't be judged as nearly as bad as if he had knocked out my teeth. You wouldn't assume that the attacker would be punished the same for pulling out my hair as for knocking out my teeth, nor would he be punished the same for killing my unborn child. Same concept, different degree.
4 comments:
If my attacker had simply shaved my head or pulled out my hair, that wouldn't be judged as nearly as bad as if he had knocked out my teeth.
I don't think I agree with this part of your reasoning. Even though your hair would grow back and your teeth wouldn't, I think pulling out someone's hair would be judged as particularly vicious.
Not condoning knocking out anyone's teeth or minimizing the violence associated with that, but it would be relatively quick and painless compared to the extended torture of having your hair pulled out. I think (don't want to ever find out for sure from first-hand experience) that it would hurt a lot as it is happening and that your scalp would be in pain from it for even longer. And that's just the physical part of it. I think the psychological and emotional effects, both initially and over time, of such an attack could be worse than the physical toll. I am creeped out even thinking about it, can hardly imagine how I would feel if it actually happened...but violated and weak would probably be just the start.
For example, I have a beautiful smile, spectacular breasts, and long silky hair.
Wow. Wish you'd come to our party this summer.
See, I can leave cute, slighty-off-topic comments, too!
@fran: I'm thinking teeth would have greater long-term effects. It's harder to find a job if you don't have teeth, if your job involves phone work or voice recognition or anything that involves being able to speak clearly you couldn't do it without teeth, and they're way expensive to fix. But then, having long hair and a younger sister, (to say nothing of having far more body hair than humanly decent), I've probably become immune to whatever pain or trauma is involved in pulling hair out.
@l-girl: is that a hint for fewer off-topic comments or more off-topic comments?
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