Murder of a fetus?

[bandwagon]

But don't say it's a matter of philosophy as to whether an in utero child is human or alive, because it's BOTH, and that's a scientific fact, not a philosophical opinion.

Be careful of semantics. "alive" is not "a life". A human kidney is both "human" and "alive".

[THL]

COLVILLE, Washington (AP) -- An 18-year-old pleaded guilty to trying to hire a hit man to kill his ex-girlfriend's nearly full-term fetus and was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

Charles D. Young received 76½ months in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to first-degree solicitation to commit manslaughter. State law allows for such a count when a viable fetus is the intended target.

Prosecutors allege Young, then 17, offered an undercover officer posing as a hit man $3,250 last October to injure his estranged 17-year-old girlfriend so badly that her fetus would die.

Young was arrested after a classmate learned of his plan and went to police, who arranged to have Young and the undercover officer meet, prosecutor John Troberg said. Young told the officer in a recorded conversation that he didn't care whether his former girlfriend survived the attack, Troberg said.

Young, of Suncrest, Washington, northwest of Spokane, apologized to the girl and her family at sentencing, Troberg said.

Young, who learned of the pregnancy after breaking up with the girl, initially expressed interest in raising their child but later told his ex-girlfriend he wanted nothing to do with the baby, the prosecutor said.

Young's attorney, Bevan Maxey, said his client is an intelligent young man who got bad advice.

"...an intelligent young man who got bad advice"? C'Mon!! Also, I don't see where he was charged with any type of attempted assault on the ex-girlfriend.

Teen tried to hire hit man to kill ex-girlfriend's fetus - CNN.com