Durham also suggested the criminal homicide statute would be more appropriate if it included the word "fetus" rather than the somewhat ambiguous "unborn child."

"In our society, the moral status of the fetus is highly controversial," Durham wrote. "Our fellow citizens disagree radically over when in this period of developing life an egg and sperm combined have matured enough to warrant moral or legal consideration as a person or a full human being."

A statute that used the phrase "fetus" would be "clearer and more respectful of the diversity of opinion in our society," Durham wrote.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, said Friday's decision falls squarely in line with several others around the country. Utah joins 14 other states whose fetal homicide laws recognize unborn children at all stages of development, while 13 others limit protection to specific developmental stages.

"The trend, I think it's fair to say, is toward the more comprehensive coverage," Johnson said.

Federal lawmakers are also attempting to pass an equivalent fetal homicide statute. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act has been stalled twice by the U.S. Senate, after passing through the House of Representatives in 1999 and 2001.

The comprehensive bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, both R-Utah, and is expected to be debated by both the House and Senate in the near future, Johnson said. President Bush has indicated he will sign the bill into law if it passes the houses.

Johnson noted that although pro-choice lawmakers have historically opposed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, the law, like Utah's homicide statute, specifically exempts criminal prosecution for the death of an unborn child caused by abortion.

Assistant Attorney General Chris Ballard, who argued the MacGuire case before the Utah Supreme Court, doesn't expect Friday's ruling to have an effect on the state's abortion laws.

"In the legal arena, it doesn't have any impact on the abortion issue," Ballard said. "Clearly a woman who chooses to have an abortion and a third-party who decides to kill a pregnant woman are not similarly situated people. . . . (Friday's decision) prevents someone else from interfering with her decision in that case, regardless of what she decides to do."

The Utah Supreme Court is currently considering the case of Calvin Shane Myers, the only other person ever charged in the state with murdering an unborn child. The issue on appeal in that case is slightly different from the MacGuire case, but Myers' attorney said the decision likely renders his case moot.

Attorney Scott York called Friday's decision "problematic" because it does not encompass other situations in which unborn children can be killed.

"I don't think this opinion resolves the issues, or the huge societal problems this is going to cause across the board," York said. "You're going to have an onslaught of situations where people are going to legitimately say, 'You didn't prosecute all these people for vehicular homicide, therefore why are you trying to prosecute the MacGuires or the Myers?' " MacGuire's case has been stayed pending the Supreme Court's decision and will now move toward trial in Farmington's 2nd District Court.

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E-MAIL: awelling@desnews.com