Exodus 21:22-25 and the personhood of the unborn

Response to Dan McClellan. There are exegetical reasons to reject his reading of Exodus 21:22-25 and the inferences he draws from it. Injuries to women would have already been covered under the general talionic laws (cf. Lev 24:19-20; Deut 19:16-21). What is addressed in Exod 21:22-25 is injury perpetrated against unborn children. The fact that talionic justice applies no less in cases where the unborn are injured, implies that the unborn were regarded as persons with the same legal standing as others.