The term "harm the fetus" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to any action that could cause potential harm to an unborn baby. For example: "The mother was warned that smoking cigarettes could harm the fetus."
Virtually any behavior that could potentially harm the fetus can be prosecuted as criminal child abuse.
But how the drugs might harm the fetus earlier in pregnancy is not understood.
Violence to Fetus: Vote on a bill that would make it a separate offense to harm the fetus while committing a violent crime against a pregnant woman.
1. Unborn Victims: Vote on legislation to make it a separate offense to harm the fetus in a federal crime committed against a pregnant woman.
Women with unintended pregnancies were more likely to be depressed and to do things that could harm the fetus, like smoking, drinking and delaying or skipping prenatal care.
Approved 61 to 38, March 25. 2. Feinstein Amendment: Vote on an amendment to the Unborn Victims bill that would have raised penalties for attacking a pregnant woman without making it a separate offense to harm the fetus.
She suspected that she'd harmed the fetus irreparably.
The researchers speculated that this could be the result of an unknown effect that pregnancy has on the cancer's spread, or of a delay in treatment for fear of harming the fetus.
Congress is also considering the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which would allow prosecutors to charge someone who kills or injures a pregnant woman in the commission of a federal crime with harming the fetus.
In 1999 and again in April of this year, the House of Representatives passed bills that would grant a measure of legal protection to the human fetus by establishing new criminal penalties for anyone who injured or harmed the fetus while committing another federal crime.
But just how a mother's infection harms the fetus, and how to prevent the damage, is uncertain.
