By Liz Townsend

A Vermont mother whose six-month-old unborn twins died after a car crash has called for the state legislature to pass a law recognizing unborn babies as victims in crimes. The woman accused of causing the accident while under the influence of prescription drugs can only be charged with causing injuries, but not for the children's deaths, according to the Bennington Banner.

Vermont mom, Patricia Blair, holds her six-month old unborn twins, Kaleb and Harley, shortly after the tiny, but viable, twins lost their lives in a head-on collision with a negligent driver.

"The babies were already loved, named, and anxiously awaited by extended family and friends," said Mary Hahn Beerworth, executive director of the Vermont Right to Life Committee. "While Vermont Right to Life has pressed the legislature over the years to address the glaring loophole in Vermont statutes, lawmakers have not taken up legislation to protect unborn victims. In the meantime, 35 states have moved to enact such legislation."

State Sen. Vince Illuzzi introduced a bill December 8, proposing that prosecutors be allowed to bring charges of murder or manslaughter when the victim is an unborn child. The proposal expressly exempts deaths caused by legal abortion or by the mother herself. The Senate Judiciary Committee will determine whether to take up Illuzzi's bill when the legislative session begins in January, according to the Banner.

Kaleb Michael Blair and Harley Olivia Blair died August 11 when a car driven by Kelly M. Cook, 22, crossed the center line and slammed head-on into the van that Patricia Blair was driving, the Berkshire Eagle reported. Blair's husband and two older children were also in the car and sustained injuries.

At first, it seemed that the six-month-old unborn babies were doing fine, although their mother was suffering from pain on her right side and her right leg had been jammed into her body, according to the Eagle.

"At this time, the twin 8-month [sic] fetuses appeared to be healthy and had pulses," Bennington Police Sgt. Lloyd Dean said in an affidavit, the Eagle reported.

Mrs. Blair was rushed to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean but found that the placenta had ruptured, depriving the babies of blood flow, according to the Eagle. Kaleb and Harley had died.

Cook suffered broken bones, and admitted at the scene that she had taken several prescription drugs before driving, according to the Eagle. At her arraignment November 3, she pled not guilty to felony charges of driving while under the influence of a drug and grossly negligent vehicle operation causing an injury, along with charges of possession of a narcotic, and is currently free on bond, the Banner reported.

After the accident, Patricia Blair learned that Cook could not be charged with a crime for her babies' deaths. This news devastated the family yet again. "It's the first time I had heard that there can be no criminal charges for the death of the babies because Vermont doesn't recognize them as people," Blair told CitizenLink.com. "At that point, my babies were there in my room, in my arms, because they let you spend some time afterwards with them. And they were perfectly formed babies. To hear that Vermont would not allow them to be called babies or children or anything, just fetuses, I was amazed."

While a new bill will not apply to Kaleb and Harley's deaths, Blair said she is determined to work for change in the law even though she has never before been involved in political action. "I never thought that I was a strong enough person, but when something like this happens, it kind of makes you wake up," Blair told CitizenLink.com. "I don't want any mother--ever--to have to wake up and have the state tell them their babies aren't babies."

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Part Two