Mom wants justice for her 'fetus'
By Ethan Baron / The Vancouver Province
A woman whose fetus died from a car accident lashed out yesterday against the law that says her unborn son was not a human.
"I don't want to see the person that hit me get away with it," said Aimee Wilson, 25, of Langley.
"He killed my son."
Wilson, eight months pregnant, was driving her Honda Civic on Alderbridge Way in Richmond about 11 p.m. on Nov. 28 when she was in a collision at No. 4 Road with another Civic, driven by a 21-year-old Burnaby man.
Staff at Vancouver General Hospital couldn't find her fetus' heartbeat.
"I remember asking a couple times, 'Are you sure, are you positive?' I couldn't believe it."
The fetus was removed by caesarean section. Wilson suffered a broken ankle.
Police say no charges can be laid in relation to the fetal death because under the Criminal Code, a fetus does not become a human until it is born alive.
Wilson and her boyfriend, Charles Thiele, 29, had known through ultrasound that their fetus was a boy, and they had named him Garrett.
"We had started collecting stuff, a baby stroller, a bassinet crib for the bedroom. I bought him a little hat and booties to bring him home in."
Hospital staff dressed the dead, five-pound, five-ounce fetus in a tuque and flannel pajamas, and brought it to Wilson and Thiele so they could say goodbye.
"He was absolutely beautiful," Wilson said. "He looked like a little porcelain doll.
"When I first was looking at him I didn't feel hurt, I was just so in awe. I was just absolutely amazed at the fact that we had created something so beautiful.
"He's got Charles' lips. He was born with a full head of dark hair like I was."
Wilson struggles unsuccessfully to understand how Garrett could be considered non-human.
"He did everything that a normal child would do. I could pretty much time when he was going to start moving in the evening. He would always prop one foot under my rib and one on my hip, and I could feel his heels moving around. He used to get hiccups on a regular basis.
"Garrett used to, every once in awhile, push back when you pushed him. You can't tell me that something's not human that reacts back, and has certain schedules.
"Just because he's in my stomach doesn't mean he's not a human. Without the accident, he would have survived."
Wilson has been recovering in St. Paul's Hospital. On her window sill sits a small silver box with a gold angel on top and a lock of Garrett's hair inside. Her breasts are full of milk.
"One of the biggest things that I'm finding hard to deal with was he was the first great-grandchild of my grandparents. My mom was looking forward to it so much. People were really, really happy. It really hurts me to see them hurting as much as me. They wanted the baby as much as I did."
Police say speed was a factor in the crash and they plan to lay charges, but until their investigation is finished they will not reveal who will be charged.
"It's not as clear-cut as one might think," said Richmond RCMP Cpl. Dave Williams.
The man driving the other car has "assisted the investigation greatly," but hoped-for witnesses have not materialized, Williams said.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
- Under the Criminal Code, a fetus becomes a human when it "has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother."
- In civil law, under which lawsuits are filed, there is a "born alive" rule that creates a definition of human life similar to that of the Criminal Code.
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/
story.html?id=cfb72db6-c720-4e94-bb70-d724cdc4cada
Posted by Editor at December 9, 2004 09:35 PM
