Abstract
Rambo v. Lawson answered the question left open by O'Grady v. Brown. O'Grady determined that a wrongful death cause of action existed for the death of a viable fetus. The O'Grady court, however, did not decide the question of whether a wrongful death cause of action existed for the death of a non-viable fetus. First, Rambo refused to breathe substantive life into the Missouri anti-abortion statutes beyond the abortion context. Second, and perhaps even more interesting for the future of Missouri wrongful death law, was the concurring opinion in Rambo written by Judge Robertson. Judge Robertson's opinion is significant because it applies the legislative re-enactment rule of statutory construction," a rule previously applied only in the areas of tax or corporate law, to the area of tort law (wrongful death). Part II of this Note will critically analyze Judge Robertson's statutory construction argument in Rambo as a blueprint for future Missouri tort law.
Recommended Citation
Michael T. Kokal,
Rambo I: The Missouri Supreme Court vs. The Wrongful Death Statute--Prelude to the Sequel,
57 Mo. L. Rev.
(1992)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol57/iss1/13