President Bush to Sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act on Thursday

     (NRLC) The White House has announced that President Bush will sign into law the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as "Laci and Conner's Law" (H.R. 1997), at about 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 1.  A number of members of families who have lost loved ones in two-victim crimes have been invited to attend the ceremony.

     The Unborn Victims of Violence Act (H.R. 1997), passed the House of Representatives on February 26, 254-163, and the Senate on March 25, 61-38.  President Bush has repeatedly urged Congress to pass the bill.  Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) voted against the bill.

     Last week, men and women whose unborn children and grandchildren were killed in crimes came to Washington to urge senators to recognize that such crimes have two victims, and to reject the Feinstein "single-victim substitute," which would have enacted the doctrine that such crimes have only a single victim.  (The Feinstein Substitute failed, 49-50.)  They included Sharon Rocha and Ron Grantski, the mother and stepfather of Laci Peterson, who was killed with her unborn son Conner in a much-publicized crime that the State of California is prosecuting as a double homicide.

     Family members from other states also told their stories to senators and journalists, as summarized below and described in detail in the linked material.  Most may be contacted for interviews through NRLC at 202-626-8820 or 202-626-8825.  They include:

     -- Carol and Buford Lyons, whose 18-year-old daughter Ashley Lyons and unborn grandson Landon (fifth month) were murdered in Scott County, Kentucky, on January 7, 2004.  A full account, including an ultrasound video of Landon made only hours before the killings, is posted on the NRLC website under the title "Remember Their Names."  The Kentucky legislature enacted a fetal homicide law last month, partly in response to this case.  At a press conference on February 26, Mrs. Lyons said, "I'm appalled that Senator Kerry voted the wrong way.  He's running for president of the United States, and he doesn't believe there are two victims. . . . I know my grandbaby was real. . . . I have two victims."

     -- Tracy Marciniak Seavers, whose unborn son Zachariah (ninth month) was killed in an assault, but not recognized as a victim under Wisconsin law at that time.  In testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee on July 8, 2003, Marciniak challenged lawmakers to view a photograph of her cradling the body of her slain son.  She suggested that those who believe the photograph shows only a single victim should vote for the "single-victim" bills, but those who believe the photo shows two victims should vote for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

     -- Stephanie Alberts, of South Charleston, West Virginia, whose daughter Christina Renee Alberts and unborn granddaughter Ashley Nichole (ninth month) were killed together in a home-robbery execution in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on December 10, 1998.  [WARNING:  Click here to see a photo that was taken at their funeral, which was shown on the floor of the Senate during the debate.  Stephanie Alberts wishes this photo to be viewed by anyone who wants to understand why she believes this crime had two victims.]  West Virginia does not have a fetal homicide law, so Ashley was not recognized as a victim.  This month, the West Virginia General Assembly passed a fetal homicide bill (S. 566) by margins of 83-16 and 34-0, but Governor Bob Wise (D) vetoed it on March 24.

     -- Cynthia Warner, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, whose daughter Heather Fliegelman and unborn grandson Jonah (ninth month) were killed on January 4, 2003, in Bangor, Maine.  Heather's husband, Roscoe B. Sargent, stabbed Heather at least 47 times, for which he was convicted of murder on March 19, 2004.  Because Maine does not have an unborn victims law, killing Jonah was not itself a crime.  However, Sargent also killed the four family cats, and each feline death could have been punished by one year of incarceration under Maine law.  [WARNING:  Click here to view a photo taken at Jonah's autopsy, which was shown on the Senate floor during the debate.  Cynthia Warner wishes this photo to be viewed by anyone who wants to understand why she believes this crime had two victims.]

     Other cases are described in op-eds and other materials posted on the NRLC website here.

     The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) was consulted in the drafting of the legislation and has led the coalition that worked for its enactment.  For further information, send e-mail to Legfederal@aol.com or call 202-626-8820.

     According to three national public opinion polls, about 80% of the public agrees that a crime like the killing of Laci and Conner Peterson has two victims and should be charged as two homicides.  A Newsweek poll found specifically that 56% of the public believes this two-victim protection should extend throughout pregnancy.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

     -- NRLC has created the most extensive resource on the Internet concerning unborn victims of violence and fetal homicide laws.

     -- On February 5, National Review Online posted an article by NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson that is a good summary of the main points in dispute regarding the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

     -- Twenty-nine (29) states allow a homicide charge to be brought when an "unborn child" or "fetus" is injured or killed during commission of a crime -- 16 throughout prenatal development, and 13 for some defined part of pregnancy.

     -- Across the nation, federal and state courts have rejected every legal challenge to the state fetal homicide laws, consistently ruling that they do NOT conflict with Roe v. Wade.

     -- Prominent pro-Roe v. Wade legal experts have in recent months declared that fetal homicide laws do not conflict with Roe -- among them, Prof. Walter Dellinger at Duke Law School, who once co-chaired a national commission to defend Roe and who later served as President Clinton's chief legal advisor on constitutional issues.

     -- The recently released official report of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on H.R. 1997 is a good discussion of how the bill and state fetal homicide laws operate.

Source: National Right to Life Committee
Publish Date: March 31, 2004