Yulia shoots Mia in the abdomen, causing Mia to go into early labour. The child is born alive, but dies a few days due to complications from the premature birth. Yulia intended to kill Mia. Has Yulia committed murder against the baby?
Incorrect. An unborn child is not considered a human being for the purpose of criminal law, and so cannot be murdered: Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 1994). However, if a child is injured by an act in utero and is subsequently born alive, only to die at a later point, then they are retroactively considered a human being for the purposes of murder and other homicide offences.