WTE: Every member of the human race should be equal in Wyoming law

Clarissa was born on the bathroom floor, weighing only three and a quarter pounds. She arrived six weeks premature, induced by overdoses of methamphetamine, cocaine and, possibly, heroine. At the hospital she was treated for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

The tiny newborn was withdrawing from the illegal drugs shared with her mother throughout her gestation. Through the love of her foster family, she pulled through. Now this bright and strong Wyoming woman loves to tell her story because she wants to speak for others less fortunate.

Statistically, a child is born with NAS every fifteen minutes. The tragedy of America’s addiction epidemic is that it affects not only men and women, but tens of thousands of unborn persons every year. The unjust injury and death inflicted upon people with no say in the matter cries out for justice. We, as Wyomingites, have a duty to intervene for their protection.

Exercising that duty, the State of Wyoming recently filed charges against a Torrington mother. She and her newborn both tested positive for methamphetamine last August. The Goshen County prosecutor charged her with felony child abuse and delivery of methamphetamine to a minor. But, on March 26, 2020, her charges were dismissed.

Public Defender David MacDonald argued that Wyoming’s statutory language does not specifically designate an unborn Wyomingite as a “child.” Therefore she does not fit the legal definition of a minor. Nor does it specifically call a pregnant woman a “mother.” If not a mother, she cannot be a “parent” in the eyes of the law. Therefore, she cannot be charged with parental abuse for action taken before the birth.

The Torrington Telegram triumphantly headlined the story, “Charges dropped; attorney proves a fetus isn't a person, according to state statute.” Actually, MacDonald is more modest about his achievement. Charges were dismissed when the state’s prosecutor failed to answer his brief. By default, the Eighth District Court found that the statutory language fails to stipulate that an unborn child is a person, or that a pregnant woman is a mother.

This ought to alarm every parent in the state. By denying that a fetus has any legally recognized parents prior to birth, the court not only exonerated one mother of parental responsibilities, it also wiped away the corresponding parental rights for all expectant couples.

Anybody from an abortionist to a social worker can interfere with the parent child relationship before the child is born. Neither parent has legal standing to advocate for the child.

Simultaneously, the Eighth District Court denied any legal protection whatsoever for the child. If an unborn child has no right to be protected from illegal and harmful drugs, she also has no right to be protected from murder. Should anyone slip an abortion pill into a mother’s drink, Wyoming cannot bring murder charges.

Senator Lynn Hutchings introduced the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (2019-SF 128) to repair this injustice in Wyoming law. It would have provided statutory language that allows Wyoming to prosecute the murder of an unborn child.

The Senate Judiciary Committee replaced every reference to “unborn child” with “fetus,” and every reference to “mother,” with “pregnant woman.” The bill ultimately failed. It remains legal in Wyoming to kill an unborn child against the will of the mother.

The Torrington case has exposed the lie that children can be adequately protected without legal recognition of the parent-child relationship in the womb. This void in state law fails to protect rights guaranteed in Wyoming’s Constitution. “In their [the people’s] inherent right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, all members of the human race are equal” (Wyo. Const. Sec. 1, par. 2).

Equal protection for life in Wyoming is not predicated on “personhood.” Regardless of whether a member of the human race may be dehumanized with terms like “embryo” and “fetus,” or humanized with words like “child” and “person,” the Constitution recognizes equality for “all members of the human race.”

Deeply anti-human “personhood theories” are a recent invention that discriminate between “human beings” and “persons.” These uncertain and unproven theories have been used to justify slavery, the holocaust, starvation of the disabled and many other atrocities.

Wyoming’s Constitution, written after the Dred Scott decision plunged us into civil war, deliberately avoids racist “personhood theory.” It promises equal protection under law to “all members of the human race.” The court should have recognized this. The state’s prosecutor should have filed a brief to defend Wyoming’s Constitution.

Since neither the executive branch nor the judicial branch defended these constitutionally protected rights, Wyoming legislators must. Clarissa’s life reminds us that inadequate laws bring tangible harm to real people with lives worth protecting. Every member of the human race has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, June 12, 2020.