With the Lennox Marionovich conviction, all debate on abortion should have been brought to an end. The prosecution presented such a straight forward argument, it was hard to argue against it.
It was a short case, didn't last more than two hours. The prosecution first established that Dr. Marionovich had conducted the abortion. That took all of a couple of minutes, as the doctor readily admitted it. What with the laws saying abortion was quite all right, he thought he had no cause to fear.
The prosecution then did some admitting of its own, admitting that U.S. Supreme Court did, indeed, make abortion legal, what with that Roe vs. Wade decision back in 1973. Then, as the saying goes, things got interesting.
"Mister Marionovich, Judge Raikeman, and members of the jury: While abortion has been legalized, the taking of a person's life has not. Mister Marionovich, you have not been brought here on charges of abortion, but on a charge of manslaughter, and we have already established that you took the life, if, indeed, there was a life hanging in the balance. In fact, that remains the only question: whether a life was taken. Please remain on the stand, Mister Marionovich. We should like you to serve as our expert witness.
"Mister Marionovich, are you a medical doctor?"
"I am."
"One who is certified by the state to practice medicine?"
"Yes, I am."
"And, is it true that early in your career, you were an EMT?"
"Yes, that I was."
"Now, Dr. Marionovich, have you ever been present at the moment a patient passed away?"
"Many, many times."
"And, Dr. Marionovich, how did you determine the patient was dead?
The doctor paused a moment, then replied, "He had no heartbeat, and he had quit breathing."
"Simple as that, then Dr. Marionovich? No heartbeat, and no breathing?"
"Yes. Those two factors are all it takes to determine the death of a patient."
"And, if he has a heartbeat and is breathing?
"Then he is alive."
"And, the baby?"
"Excuse me?"
"The baby, Dr. Marionovich, before it was born, at the time of the abortion."
"Yes?"
"Was it breathing? Did it have a heartbeat?
"It was taking in all the oxygen it needed through the mother. Although that isn't the same process of breathing that we have outside the womb, its purpose is the same. And, yes, the baby had a heartbeat."
"Well, then, Dr. Marionovich, I think we can rest our case. The rules for what is life have been around quite some time, haven't they? And, they've not changed, have they? If it takes in oxygen, and if it has a heartbeat, well, then, it is alive. The location of the person does not matter. By that, I mean, it doesn't matter if it is inside a womb, or outside.
"So, then, Dr. Marionovich, a heartbeat, and a breathing-type process, that is all, then? And in all the many times you determined death, did you ever use any other standard?
The doctor was hanging his head by now. He brought his hands up, cupping them over his face. He did not answer that last question. at first, so the prosecution repeated it.
"No," came the whispered answer. "No, never. I see now how we must use the same standard. I am sorry I have not seen this clearly before. I'm very sorry for what I have done. I know not what the court would decide. But, if I may, your honor, I would like to change my plea. I would like to plea guilty as charged, guilty of manslaughter."
The judge honored his request, bringing the first such conviction in the Twenty-first Century. Others quickly followed.
(Note posted 12/13/13: This blog will probably be rewritten. For the moment, just a note to say it is fiction, per chance anyone might think otherwise. The point made, though, is not fiction. We have always determined life by whether the person breathed and had a heartbeat.)
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