In the “Minnesota Cruelty to Animals Statutes . . . Police Regulations,” Statute 343.21 subdivision 1 says, “No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal.”

Subdivision 7 says, “No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal.”

The penalty: “A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

Question: If the eight-week-old human fetus (with beating heart, EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity) is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment (“no state shall deprive any person of life ... without due process of law”), then is the fetus at least an animal?

Could we at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.21 subdivision 7?

Why is it illegal to “maim, mutilate and kill” an animal in Minnesota, but not a pain-sensitive unborn human being?