This book considers the appropriate response of the criminal law with regard to women whose acts or omissions in pregnancy cause the death or injury of the child born alive. It compares recent developments in English law in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998, with those in America, which has seen an enormous growth in litigation over the last two decades.

Contents: Introduction; The status of the fetus; The State interest in protecting the pregnant woman and the significance of autonomy; Criminalization of pregnant women and mothers in the USA; Crimes against the fetus born alive in England and Wales; Criticism of the United States' extensions of the law; Alternatives to extended criminalization; Bibliography; Index.