AG Rob Bonta said that under his legal interpretation of California’s murder statute, a pregnant woman cannot be prosecuted for the murder of an unborn fetus based on the outcome of her pregnancy. He said lesser included charges such as manslaughter also do not apply in such cases.
Prosecutors should not charge women with murder when a fetus dies, even if their behavior may have contributed to the death, California’s top law enforcement official said Thursday.
Bonta said that under his legal interpretation of California’s murder statute, a pregnant woman cannot be prosecuted for the murder of an unborn fetus based on the outcome of her pregnancy. He said lesser included charges such as manslaughter also do not apply in such cases. Bonta limited his legal interpretation to California’s murder statute and wouldn’t say if other charges like reckless endangerment or child endangerment might be merited in some circumstances. He said his interpretation also did not cover post-partum situations, like a Mendocino County woman convicted last year in the death of her newborn due to methamphetamine in her breast milk.
The Legislature amended that section of the law in 1970 to include the death of a fetus, but with the intent to criminalize violence done to pregnant women that caused fetal death, Bonta said. The intent, he said, was never to include a woman’s own actions that might result in a miscarriage or stillbirth.
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