"Every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious and premeditated killing; or committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, escape, murder, kidnapping, treason, espionage, sabotage, aggravated sexual abuse or sexual design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any human being other than him who is killed, is murder in the first degree."

And those found guilty (by a jury of their peers) of "murder in the first degree" shall be punished "by death or by imprisonment for life." Those found guilty of murder in the second degree, the U.S. Code continues, "shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life."

Homicide, according to the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) is the "killing of another human being by one or more persons." There are several categories of homicide - Negligent, Culpable, and Justifiable homicide. Negligent homicide is a charge which is brought against someone, who, "by i

Also, in the U.S. a "non-criminal homicide" which is committed in self-defense or to prevent a very serious crime, such as "rape, armed robbery, or murder," would be, in many instances, justified. A homicide committed out of "vengeance, or retribution for action in the past," does not qualify for the label of justifiable homicide.

Suicide is the act of killing one's self - "willfully ending one's own life," according to the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. The report from the Surgeon General of the United States (www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calltoaction/fact.1.htm) indicates that suicide was the 8th leading cause of death for "all Americans" in 1999, and the "third leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24."

Feticide is a legal term that alludes to the "deliberate or incidental killing of a fetus due to a human act" such as a "punch or kick in the abdomen of a pregnant woman," Wikipedia explains. Feticide is not connected with "legal abortion" or the "spontaneous abortion of a pregnancy where the life of the fetus could not be maintained artificially," Wikipedia continues.

Voluntary manslaughter carries with it, according to the FindLaw.com web site, a fine or a prison sentence of "not more than ten years," or both. Involuntary manslaughter has a punishment, a fine or six years in prison, or both.

The number of children who are female in India "is declining on a rapid rate." According to the article, the census from 2001 shows "the sex ratio in India has reduced to 933 females to 1000 males."

Some additional statistics on suicide include these facts: white men over 85 had the highest rate of suicide in the Surgeon General's study (65.3 per 100,000); males are "four times more likely to die of suicide than females"; "females are more likely to attempt suicide than are males"; white men accounted for 73% of all suicides in 1996.

That having been said, it's also true that more people die of suicide than from homicide, according to the Surgeon General's report. Why do people take their own lives? "Suicide is a complex behavior usually caused by a combination of factors," the report explains. Almost all people who kill themselves, according to the research, "have a diagnosable mental or substance abuse disorder or both," the report continues, and the majority of those who take their own lives "have depressive illness."

Some common words found in the essay are:
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