Fetal Homicide & Abortion Capture Media Spotlight: Yet Remain Taboo In Fiction

The Laci Peterson investigation has focused national attention on the implications of fetal homicide statutes on abortion. Yet authors and publishers consider such topics taboo for fiction.

Laci Peterson, eight months pregnant, was reported missing from her Modesto, California home on December 24th, 2002. On April 18, 2003 San Diego police arrested Lacis husband after DNA tests identified two bodies that washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay as those of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. California prosecutors have now charged Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, with killing his wife and their unborn son.

While fetal homicide statutes have been adopted in over two-dozen states, the topic of abortion or fetal homicide in fiction remains taboo. Writers and publishers of fiction have vigorously avoided addressing this potentially divisive, yet important issue. One notable exception is The Last Autopsy & Other Inimitable Tales by Norbert Zaenglein The issue is too important to be ignored by authors and publishers," said Cheri Martinelli, spokesperson for Night Howl, publisher of the sometimes-controversial book. Fiction provides the opportunity to examine these issue from a fresh perspective."

The Last Autopsy & Other Inimitable Tales -- ISBN 0-9702176-2-5 -- Price $12 -- Trade Paper -- 8.5 x 11 -- 183 pages -- Published by Night Howl Productions, P.O. Box 1, Clay Center, NE 68933 USA -- email: nighthowlproductions@ yahoo.com -- Available through distributor, Baker & Taylor, and on amazon.com.