Straight Talk With Sam - Unborn Victims of Violence

Volume 4, Issue 40, October 4, 2004

STRAIGHT TALK WITH SAM
Unborn Victims of Violence

This Congress the House and Senate passed and the President signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which will allow prosecutors to bring two charges against criminals who commit a violent crime that results in the death of an unborn child. A pregnant woman has a right to have her child. This legislation is about punishing those who take away her right by murdering her unborn child.

Twenty-nine states currently allow such a separate charge under state law. Yet until this year, if an individual committed a federal crime, injuring her and killing her unborn child, that individual could not be prosecuted under Federal law for the loss of the baby's life. The legislation I supported would change the law so that an individual could be prosecuted for the loss of the baby's life.

This is about human decency. These are not victimless crimes. Women who are beaten or murdered are entitled to justice. If a woman loses her unborn child as a result of that crime, her unborn child should be entitled to justice as well.

The courts have already supported similar laws to answer the critics that say this is unconstitutional. Missouri's law was the center of the controversy, but the outcome in the courts support what we did. This law is about protecting the rights of the unborn.

Finally, there will be justice for both the mother and her unborn child.