Unborn Victims of Violence

Unborn Victims of Violence

Rep. Boozman's Column for the Week of February 16, 2004

On December 24th 2002, Laci Peterson disappeared from her home in California. One of thousands of missing persons cases every year, this case immediately prompted a tremendous amount of national media coverage because of the circumstances surrounding Laci's disappearance, including the fact that she was eight months pregnant at the time.

In April of 2003, investigators discovered the bodies of Laci and her unborn baby on the shore of the San Francisco Bay. By this point, the nation had learned a lot about the Peterson family, including that Laci and her husband had already had chosen Conner as a name for their unborn son. Days later Laci and Conner's remains were identified by DNA testing and a suspect was charged with two counts of murder: one count for the murder of Laci and the other for that of their unborn child Conner.

Charges could be filed for Conner's murder because California is one of twenty-six states that allows for homicide charges in deaths of fetuses.
Some of these laws cover a fetus at any stage of development while laws in the other states, including California, cover only those fetuses that have reached a certain level of development. California protects a fetus that has passed the "embryonic stage," which is seven or eight weeks into the pregnancy.

In Washington, D.C., we are trying to find ways the federal government can extend those protections to unborn children in the twenty-four states that do not have laws like the one in California. One bill that has a great deal of support is H.R. 1997, "The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003," which was renamed the "Laci and Conner's Law" after the tragedy in Modesto.

H.R. 1997, which I cosponsored, states that anyone who in the act of violent crime causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero shall be guilty of a separate offense. The bill would establish a punishment equal to that had the injury or death occurred to the unborn child's mother, even if the perpetrator did not know the victim was pregnant. By providing the same protections to an unborn child as we would a human being, we unequivocally state that a crime against an unborn child is just as wrong as a crime against you or I.

At this point, it is too early to judge how the Peterson case will play out. However, we do know the tragic murders of Laci and Conner highlight the need for stronger federal laws to protect unborn children. Every life is precious, whether born or still in the womb. This is an area of the law that cannot be ignored or left without measures to recognize and protect the status of an unborn child. I will continue to work with my colleagues to pass H.R. 1997 and protect mothers and their unborn children from crime, and to decrease the likelihood of another Laci and Connor Peterson tragedy.