Another form of child abuse: smoking while pregnant.

[kiva]

101. As several people have said above,

words matter. A fetus is not a child, child abuse is a crime. What you want to talk about is the possible damage done to a fetus by a pregnant woman who chooses to smoke. Put that way, there is still the question of whether or not government or society has a right to tell a woman what she can or cannot do while pregnant.

Was your sister's medical issue caused by your mother's smoking? If not, then it is no more relevant that my telling you that my mother smoked through all three of her pregnancies and delivered three healthy infants who ranged in size from 8lbs. to 10lbs.

You say you don't want to make it illegal for pregnant women to smoke, so what exactly is the point of your OP? To scold pregnant women who smoke? To equate a fetus with a child? To say that things are better now?