Not too early is it? 2008 Presidential fun

[Strangler Lewis]

What Roe and subsequent cases recognized correctly as a matter of common sense (if not necessarily constitutional law) is that the stakes change as the fetus becomes viable. The "icky" factor to abortion increases. Early on, the icky factor will be less in part because the woman's body is just as likely to terminate the pregnancy on its own and in part because the fetus, little miniatures notwithstanding, looks more like a parasite than a real baby.

Later on, when the fetus/baby approaches viability, the "icky" factor increases, both because the baby is more like a baby and because this is a delicate area where we expect the decision makers (i.e., women) to act quickly and responsibly.

Law school exam question: in a world where abortion was illegal and women who had them were viewed as babykillers, would a woman who willed her body to deliver a non-viable baby because she wanted to hold it and take care of it 15 weeks sooner be guilty of a crime? We'll even call her a Christian Scientist or some other religious fanatic who believed that God would keep her baby alive.