Citation

North East Rep. Second Ser. 1988; 531: 355-361.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, West Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12041248

Abstract

In a case in which a pregnant woman's automobile accident resulted in injuries to her fetus, subsequently born alive, the Illinois Supreme Court refused to recognize the tort liability of mothers for the unintentional infliction of prenatal injuries to their infants. Noting the uniqueness of the mother-fetus relationship, the court further reasoned that to permit such claims would expose a mother's day-to-day decision making to unreasonable state scrutiny in violation of common law rights of privacy and autonomy. The court concluded that recognition of such a new tort could emanate only from the state legislature.

Language: en