In the past few years, more than half the states have enacted fetal rights laws making it a crime to harm a fetus either through violence, neglect or abuse. Politics aside, economics are driving these new laws. The direct health expenditures for babies born with birth problems, birth defects or developmental disabilities exceed $10 billion a year.
Smoking while pregnant, for example, is the greatest risk factor for delivering a low birth-weight (LBW) infant. In 1988, hospital costs for a LBW infant averaged $6,200 while the cost of a normal, healthy delivery averaged $1,900.