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pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
terms, quickening is the moment in
pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
when the pregnant woman starts to feel the fetus's movement in the
uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic and prenatal development, f ...
. It was believed that the quickening marked the moment that a
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
entered the fetus, termed ensoulment.


Medical facts

The first natural sensation of quickening may feel like a light tapping or fluttering. These sensations eventually become stronger and more regular as the pregnancy progresses. Sometimes, the first movements are mis-attributed to gas or hunger pangs. A woman's uterine muscles, rather than her abdominal muscles, are first to sense fetal motion. Therefore, her body weight usually does not have a substantial effect on when movements are initially perceived. Women who have previously given birth have more relaxed uterine muscles which are more sensitive to fetal motion during subsequent pregnancies. For them fetal motion can sometimes be felt as early as 14 weeks. Quickening indicates the start of fetal movements, usually felt 14–26 weeks after conception, or between the fourth and sixth month. A woman pregnant for the first time (i.e., a primigravida woman) typically feels fetal movements at about 20–21 weeks, whereas a woman who has given birth at least once will typically feel movements around 18 weeks.


Common law

The study of the early history of common law in the context of the abortion debate presents some challenges. Over the years dedicated scholars have uncovered case law that supports the argument that abortion was considered murder, in at least some cases, even before quickening. However, due to the greater impact of local customs and contested jurisdictions in earlier stages of legal history, the customary origins of the common law are murky, and scholars can point to other cases where abortion was not considered such a serious matter. The first legal writer to describe abortion of a quick fetus as homicide was
Henry de Bracton Henry of Bracton (c. 1210 – c. 1268), also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton, and Henry Bretton, was an English cleric and jurist. He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinib ...
in the early 13th century: The fetal
right to life The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...
post-quickening was recognized by the 18th century British legal scholar
William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-k ...
as a legally protected right "inherent by nature in every individual". Blackstone wrote that life became a legally protected right "as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother's womb". Blackstone explained the subject of quickening in the eighteenth century, relative to
feticide Foeticide (British English), or feticide (North American English), is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage. Definitions differ between legal and medical applications, whereas in law, feticide frequently refers to a criminal offe ...
and
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
: '' Blackstone's Commentaries'' and other widely consulted common law authorities drew a dividing line at quickening analogous to the viability line the Supreme Court attempted to draw in ''Roe v. Wade''. In England in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, a woman convicted of a capital crime could claim a delay in her execution if she were pregnant; a woman who did so was said to " plead the belly". The law held that no women could be granted a second reprieve from the original sentence on the ground of subsequent pregnancy, even if the fetus had quickened. In Ireland on 16 March 1831 Baron Pennefather in Limerick stated that pregnancy was not alone sufficient for a delay but there had to be quickening.''Limerick Evening Post'' and ''Clare Sentinel'', 18 March 1831.


See also

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Notes


External links


First Fetal Movement: Quickening
American Pregnancy Association. *, babycenter.com. {{Pregnancy Midwifery Souls