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The Pregnant Man and Criminal Law. Towards Generating a New European Approach

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Abstract

This article aims at promoting a new approach regarding criminal law and crimes that include a provision that relates to pregnancy. We thus try to set a starting point for future debates on the manners in which European countries criminalise offences related to pregnancies. We lay an emphasis on how the criminal legislation might have a considerable impact in discriminating or complicating situations that have not been initially taken into account – e.g., the male pregnancy in humans. The goal of this article is to present the law scholarly society with the incoming problems a pregnant man may face in front of a criminal law court.

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Notes

  1. The countries that adopted the common law system were not taken into account when making this article, as the legal training of the author has taken place within the continental law system. Thus, wanting to make no mistake, countries as the United Kingdom were not considered. Even so, the author believes this debate can be taken into the common law system.

  2. The punishments were not included for space reasons.

  3. Article 109 Avortement imprudent. (3) La femme enceinte ne doit pas être punie pour cette infraction.

  4. § 79 StGB Tötung eines Kindes bei der Geburt. Eine Mutter, die das Kind während der Geburt oder solange sie noch unter der Einwirkung des Geburtsvorgangs steht, tötet, ist mit Freiheitsstrafe von sechs Monaten bis zu fünf Jahren zu bestrafen.

  5. § 218 Schwangerschaftsabbruch. (3) Begeht die Schwangere die Tat, so ist die Strafe Freiheitsstrafe bis zu einem Jahr oder Geldstrafe.

  6. Article 578 - Infanticidio in condizioni di abbandono materiale e morale. La madre che cagiona la morte del proprio neonato immediatamente dopo il parto, o del feto durante il parto, quando il fatto è determinato da condizioni di abbandono materiale e morale connesse al parto, è punita con la reclusione da quattro a dodici anni.

  7. Article 149. Matka, która zabija dziecko w okresie porodu pod wpływem jego przebiegu, podlega karze pozbawienia wolności od 3 miesięcy do lat 5.

  8. Articolul 147. Pruncuciderea. Omorul copilului nou-născut, săvîrşit în timpul naşterii sau imediat după naştere de către mama care se afla într-o stare de tulburare fizică sau psihică, cu diminuarea discernămîntului, cauzată de naştere, se pedepseşte cu închisoare de pînă la 5 ani.

  9. Artículo 144. El que produzca el aborto de una mujer, sin su consentimiento, será castigado con la pena de prisión de cuatro a ocho años e inhabilitación especial para ejercer cualquier profesión sanitaria, o para prestar servicios de toda índole en clínicas, establecimientos o consultorios ginecológicos, públicos o privados, por tiempo de tres a diez años.

  10. 4 § Barnadråp. En kvinna som i ett tillstånd av utmattning eller ångest på grund av nedkomsten dödar sitt barn, skall för barnadråp dömas till fängelse i minst fyra månader och högst fyra år.

  11. Article 116 CPS Infanticide. La mère qui aura tué son enfant pendant l’accouchement ou alors qu’elle se trouvait encore sous l’influence de l’état puerpéral sera punie d’une peine privative de liberté de trois ans au plus ou d’une peine pécuniaire.

  12. Rosenblum Darren, ‘Unsex Mothering: Toward a New Culture of Parenting.’, Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, 35.1 (2012), 60.

  13. Karaian Lara. ‘Pregnant Men: Repronormativity, Critical Trans Theory and the Re(conceive)ing of Sex and Pregnancy in Law.’, Social & Legal Studies, 22.2 (2013), 1.

  14. Fontana David and Naomi Schoenbaum. ‘Unsexing pregnancy.’, Columbia Law Review, 119.2 (2019), 310.

  15. Robin Marantz Henig, ‘Transgender Men Who Become Pregnant Face Social, Health Challenges’ (NPR, 7 November 2014) <https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/11/07/362269036/transgender-men-who-become-pregnant-face-health-challenges> accessed 14 September 2021.

  16. Or, better said, to whom was assigned at birth, in terms of civil and administrative law, the male sex, being identified as a man.

  17. Nair, Anjana, et al. ‘Uterus Transplant.’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1127.1 (2008), 83.

  18. The first most known case being that of Thomas Beatie.

  19. Marini Lorenzo, Pilar Medina Bravo and Miquel Rodrigo Alsina. “Prensa on-line y transexualidad: análisis de la cobertura periodística del caso de Thomas Beatie.” Estudios Sobre El Mensaje Periodistico, 16 (2010), 292.

  20. Andreea Petrosel, ‘Curajul de a fi transgender în România’ (RFI, 29 June 2016) <https://www.rfi.ro/emisiunile-rfi-ro-88025-curajul-de-fi-transgender-romania> accessed 14 September 2021.

  21. Or even ‘father’ for that matter.

  22. It doesn’t appear at all.

  23. As long as the continental law extends, the common law is not being considered when making this study. Nevertheless, the common law system may as well suffer from the same paradigms.

  24. For sure, most of the countries have laws concerning discrimination that state the same principles as the Romanian laws.

  25. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, Drept penal. Partea generală Vol. I, (Bucharest, Universul Juridic Publishing House, 2014), pp. 35–36, 49.

  26. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, pp. 49–50.

  27. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 50.

  28. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 50.

  29. Especially that the new Romanian Criminal Code, although it entered into power in 2014, it was first published in 2009, before 2010, the year when Guinness World Records gave Thomas Beatie the title of “First Pregnant Man of the world” – ‘Lo Show dei Record 2010’ (TVBlogo.it, 29 August 2020) <http://www.tvblog.it/galleria/lo-show-dei-record-2010-terza-puntata-sec-parte/59> accessed 14 September 2021

  30. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 50.

  31. The simplest examples being the OG 137/2000 or Law no. 202/2002 regarding the equality of chances and treatment between women and men (“Legea nr. 202/2002 privind egalitatea de şanse şi de tratament între femei şi bărbaţi”) and lastly the Romanian Civil Code from 2009.

  32. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, pp. 51–54.

  33. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 48.

  34. Rotaru Cristina, ‘Previzibilitatea legii penale în ceea ce priveşte elementele componente ale laturii subiective în cazul unor infracţiuni.’, Curierul judiciar, 12 (2012), 736.

  35. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, pp. 35–36.

  36. Rotaru Cristina, supra, note 28, 736.

  37. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 37.

  38. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 42.

  39. A random author of the offence.

  40. The simple form.

  41. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 48.

  42. Streteanu Florin and Daniel Niţu, supra, note 26, p. 42.

  43. The issues of the interpretation being discussed above.

  44. The term person would probably come more to confuse the solution, but about this aspect regards terminology containing person we discussed below.

  45. Tierney Lawrence, Stephen J. McPhee and Maxine Papadakis. Diagnostic şi Tratament în Practica Medicală - Ediţie Internaţională, (Bucharest, Editura Ştiinţelor Medicale Publishing House, 2001), pp. 622–623.

  46. Because of the inefficiency of the uterus of a pregnant man, for example.

  47. Kauranen Anne, ‘Transgender man gives birth in Finland first’ (Yahoo News, 4 April 2018) <https://www.yahoo.com/news/transgender-man-gives-birth-finland-first-154808540.html> accessed 14 September 2021.

  48. Huff Post, ‘Scott Moore, Second Pregnant Man, Due To Give Birth In February’ (HUFFPOST, 25 May 2011) <https://stirileprotv.ro/show-buzz/entertainment/thomas-beatie-barbatul-insarcinat-si-a-scos-copiii-la-sanius.html> accessed 14 September 2021.

  49. Or his foetus be the victim.

  50. Pop Catalin Daniel, ‘The Surrogate Mother and Criminal Law. Preliminaries.’, Conferinta Internationala de Drept, Studii Europene si Relatii Internationale 2019, (2019), 454–464.

  51. Rodriguez Cecilia, ‘Sex? Male, Female, 'Diverse': Germany Approves Third-Gender Option’ (Forbes, 21 August 2018), https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2018/08/21/sex-male-female-diverse-germany-approves-third-gender-option/#474d69a2d27e, accessed 14 September 2021.

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*Catalin Daniel Pop, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, Strada General Traian Mosoiu 71, Cluj-Napoca 400132, Romania. E-mails: catalin.pop@ubbcluj.ro; popcata2014@gmail.com.

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Pop, C.D. The Pregnant Man and Criminal Law. Towards Generating a New European Approach. Crim Law Forum 32, 511–529 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-021-09427-z

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