Does a fetus count as an employee? Missouri says so

By Nomin Ujiyediin,

Published May 11, 2023 at 4:00 AM CDT

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When a Missouri Department of Transportation employee and her unborn son were killed in the course of her job, her family sued for wrongful death — but the state argued they're shielded from liability because her fetus counts as an employee. The case has brought renewed attention to Missouri's fetal personhood laws since the end of Roe v. Wade.

After the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, Missouri became one of the first states to pass a law declaring that fetuses are people and allowing them legal protections. Now, that law is at the center of a lawsuit regarding the death of Kaitlyn Anderson, who died in 2021 while six months pregnant.

Host Nomin Ujiyediin talked with KFF Health News reporter Bram Sable-Smith about that case and fetal personhood laws around the U.S., and their impact on pregnant people after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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