Killing a Fetus Is Murder

According to an appellate court in California, the killing of a nonviable fetus constitutes murder under California law, because the California legislature included "fetuses" within its list of victims in its murder statute.  What is most interesting to me, though, about the decision in People v. Valdez, is the nature of the contrary argument (thanks to CrimProf Blog for the quote):

The defendants argued, however, that because the fetus had a serious medical condition and would not have survived until birth, punishing the defendant for murder would violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause, and would be "so disproportionate to the crime for which it is inflicted that it shocks the conscience and offends fundamental notions of human dignity."  The court responded:  "As we have noted, our state's Legislature made a policy decision to protect fetal life in the same manner as the life of a human being, except where the mother's paramount privacy interests are at stake. In light of the state's legitimate interest in protecting fetal life, we cannot say that it is grossly disproportionate, or that it shocks the conscience or offends fundamental notions of human dignity, to punish as murder the unlawful killing of a fetus which, due to a physical or medical condition, may not otherwise survive until birth. In other words, construing California's murder statute to apply to the killing of "a non-survivable fetus" does not violate the cruel and/or unusual punishment clauses of the state and federal Constitutions."

Thoughts? 

Rick