DePaul Law Review Volume 25 Issue 3 Spring 1976 Article 6 Towards a Practical Implementation of the Abortion Decision: The Interests of the Physician, the Woman and the Fetus Mary Sebek Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review Recommended Citation Mary Sebek, Towards a Practical Implementation of the Abortion Decision: The Interests of the Physician, the Woman and the Fetus, 25 DePaul L. Rev. 676 (1976) Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review/vol25/iss3/6 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Law at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in DePaul Law Review by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COMMENTS TOWARDS A PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ABORTION DECISION: THE INTERESTS OF THE PHYSICIAN, THE WOMAN AND THE FETUS The United States Supreme Court has considered the issue of a woman's right to an abortion, I and has resolved that such a right, guar- anteed under the concept of individual privacy,2 does exist. The Court did not, however, discuss the ramifications of an abortion resulting in a live birth, nor did the Court resolve the question of when life actually begins.3 Instead, the Court couched its decision in terms relating only to the fetus,4 stating that the fetus is not a person within the contempla- tion of the law.' Many have disagreed with this conclusion, asserting that traditional Anglo-American law has always recognized the fetus as a person.' However, a careful analysis of property, tort, wrongful death, social welfare and criminal law indicates that the fetus has never been accorded the rights and privileges of persons.