Feticide

Feticide relates to the killing of a fetus.

In legal terms it refers to "fetal homicide", the killing of an unborn baby due to a criminal act of assault, such as an intentional punch or kick to the womb causing the fetus to die.

As of April 2008, at least 36 states in the U.S. have laws against fetal homicide.

In 2004 President Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence act which deems an unborn child who is killed in utero as a legal victim. Therefore, if the unborn is a victim of any federal crime of violence the perpetrator would be charged not only for the victimizing the mother, but an additional charge for killing the baby.

Pro-Choice advocates fear that laws deeming a fetus as a separate entity would eventually be used hinder a womans right to choose. They also raise the concern that a woman could face criminal charges if she behaved in an unsafe way while pregnant, drinking and smoking for example.

In certain countries, including China and India, female feticide, refers to the practice of selective abortions.