Q: Is retroactive application of abortion as murder possible in Indiana?
If a law was already in place in Indiana that states murder is illegal, and years later, the state adds abortion as a type of murder, would this apply retroactively since murder has always been illegal?
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A:
Retroactive application of a law is generally not allowed in criminal cases due to constitutional protections. In the United States, the Constitution prohibits ex post facto laws, meaning you cannot be prosecuted for an act that was not considered a crime at the time you did it. If a state, such as Indiana, were to redefine certain actions as murder, it would only apply moving forward from the date the law goes into effect.
This principle ensures that people cannot be punished under laws that didn’t exist when their actions occurred. Even if murder was already illegal, changing the legal definition to include abortion wouldn’t retroactively criminalize past abortions. Such changes would only affect future cases once the law is passed and enacted.
If you’re trying to understand how this might impact a specific situation, it’s a good idea to focus on the timing of when the law was adopted and how it’s written. Legal changes typically only apply to actions that occur after the law is put into place, so retroactive enforcement would not be possible.
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