Posted On: July 28, 2009
UNBORN FETUS NOT A “CHILD” UNDER INDIANA WRONGFUL DEATH STATUTE
In Ramirez v. Wilson, a semi-tractor collided head-on with a pregnant woman’s car. She was killed, and her daughter S.R. died in utero. S.R.’s father filed a complaint for the wrongful death of the unborn child. The Court found that although S.R. was a viable, full-term fetus, under Indiana precedent, a fetus is not a child for purposes of the wrongful death statute and the driver was appropriately entitled to judgment as a matter of law on S.R.’s father’s claim for the unborn child’s wrongful death. Ramirez v. Wilson, 901 N.E.2d 1 (Ind. App. 2009).
