From conception to natural death

Our Criminal Code speaks of the crime of abortion in Book First, Part II, Title VIII, Sub-title VII, where it is referred to as "procured miscarriage".

Since abortion can only be carried out before the birth of the child, our Criminal Code considers the embryo or foetus as a person because the provisions on abortion are under the title "Of Crimes against the Person".

But we have no definition in the Criminal Code of the term 'person' as we have, for instance, of 'wilful homicide'. By interpreting wrongly the meaning of 'person', one can come to the wrong conclusion that, for example, the embryo is not a person; so terminating a pregnancy is not a "procured miscarriage" and, therefore, it is not a crime.

Our Constitution speaks of the "right to life" in Section 33. It states: "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save...".

Again, here we do not have a definition of 'person'. So if, at least, the qualification 'from conception to natural death' is added after 'person' found in this section of the Constitution, human life is safeguarded right from its start to its natural death. This section is already entrenched.