Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003

UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT OF 2003 -- (House of Representatives - February 26, 2004)

Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 529, I call up the bill (H.R. 1997) to amend title 18, United States Code, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice to protect unborn children from assault and murder, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

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Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Lofgren amendment and in opposition to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

Mr. Speaker, the majority of Americans are prochoice, and they depend on us to protect a woman's right to choose, while at the same time working to make abortion rare by making sure that all women have a full range of reproductive choices.
They depend on us to pass legislation that will protect their reproductive freedom, and they depend on us to know the difference between legislation that truly protects women and legislation that is discussed as something that it is not, like, for example, the bill that is before us now.

Today, Members of Congress who truly care about the issue of violence against women can put their words into action by voting for the Lofgren substitute. The substitute provides for the deterrence and punishment of violent acts against pregnant women, and it does so while completely avoiding the controversial issues of abortion. It creates a new separate crime with tough penalties, up to 20 years to life, for an assault that causes the termination of a pregnancy.

So my colleagues can choose to vote for the substitute and actually accomplish a goal they care about, or they can go with the underlying bill, which is nothing but a poorly disguised vehicle to undermine Roe v. Wade.

We are not fooled by this legislation. Our constituents will not be fooled by this legislation. If Members of the House really care about taking steps to protect pregnant women and punish the people who commit horrible acts of violence against them, we will all join together and vote for the Lofgren substitute.

There is only one real difference between the substitute and the underlying bill, and it is this one thing that reveals the true goal of H.R. 1997. The underlying bill creates a Federal criminal offense that provides a pregnancy from conception to birth with the legal status separate from that of the woman. Regardless of what we are hearing today from proponents of the legislation, there is only one reason to vote for this bill, and that is to support defining a fetus or a fertilized egg, for that matter, as a person.

If the supporters of the legislation want to debate the merits of abortion, let us do it out in the open. But they should be embarrassed about cloaking their true intent in an issue that we all agree upon, protecting pregnant women from violence.
We keep hearing those who support the bill talk about two victims, but what they are omitting is the fact that this bill does not mention the main victim, the woman, another indication this bill is not really about two victims at all. The Lofgren substitute is the bill that truly focuses on women, because it creates a Federal criminal offense for harm to a pregnant woman.

I strongly urge my colleagues to vote yes on the Lofgren substitute and no on final passage.