title: The rights of the unborn child seen through the eyes of a psychologist.
abstract: There is a serious possibility that the developing foetus has become a sentient being long before his or her actual birth and that the most profound response patterns of our existence are already laid down in this early prenatal experience. Experiments over the last 50 to 60 years have shown that not alone is there life before birth, but that the quality of this life plays a determining role in the type of personality one may develop. Although for most of use, life in the womb remains a mysterious enigma, we can no longer afford to ignore the influences, both internal and external, which affect the growing child in its mother's womb. Often thought of as the ultimate haven--the refuge against all life's ills--it is perhaps disconcerting to have to consider that even here, one's first sanctuary, one may not be safe. The single parent is particularly at risk in this regard. Does the law offer sufficient protection for mother and child to ensure support for this critical process?
authors.affiliation: Audio-Psycho-Phonology Centre--Listening, Language and Communication, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Levinson
mesh_terms: D002651:Child Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003243:Consciousness; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D006806:Human Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010553:Personality Development; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life; D014933:Women's Rights