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What follows is the text of a
letter sent to Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) by Sharon Rocha, whose
daughter Laci Peterson and unborn grandson Conner were murdered in
California in December, 2002. A scan of a faxed copy of the actual letter
is posted here in the PDF format (requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)
here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/RochaToKerry.pdf Senator John Kerry Dear Senator Kerry: I am the mother of Laci Peterson and
the grandmother of Conner Peterson. I am writing to ask you to support
the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which is now also referred to as
"Laci and Conner's Law" at my family's request. You have seen the press coverage
regarding the brutal murders of my daughter and grandson, and I expect
that you are aware that two homicide charges have been filed by state
authorities. However, if my daughter had been killed in a federal
jurisdiction, or during commission of a federal crime, my grandson's
murder would not be recognized or charged. It is that gap in federal law
that we seek to correct with Laci and Conner's Law. When a criminal attacks a woman who
carries an unborn child, he claims two victims. I am told that 28 states
(including Massachusetts) now recognize the unborn child as a separate
crime victim in at least some circumstances -- counting Texas, where the
governor signed a comprehensive law within the past month. I have seen
a letter that you recently
sent to constituents, in which you said, "I have serious concerns about
this legislation because the law cannot simultaneously provide that a
fetus is a human being and protect the right of the mother to choose to
terminate her pregnancy. Therefore, I do not support the Unborn Victims
of Violence Act."
Senator, this is not an abortion issue.
California's unborn victim law has been [on] the books since 1970 and it
does not affect the availability of legal abortion, nor have any of the
similar laws in effect in more than half the states. The Unborn Victims of
Violence Act explicitly says that it does not apply to abortion, or to any
acts of the mother herself. Having said that, I have no difficulty
understanding that any legislator or group opposed to abortion logically
would also support this bill to protect the lives of unborn children like
Conner from violent criminal actions, and I welcome their support. What I
find difficult to understand is why groups and senators who champion the
pro-choice cause are blind to the fact that these two-victim crimes are the
ultimate violation of choice. Sponsors of the federal bill have told
me that when the Senate takes up Laci and Conner's Law, a "single-victim"
bill will be offered in its place B a bill that would increase penalties for
federal crimes if the victim happens to be pregnant, but without recognizing
the killing of an unborn child as a loss of life. Then the Senate will have
to choose between the two bills. Judging from your letter, it seems that
you are currently inclined towards this single-victim approach. But I urge
you to oppose the single-victim bill. That bill would not recognize that
there are two victims in cases like my family's. In fact, it would enshrine
in law the offensive concept that such crimes have only a single victim --
the pregnant woman. Please understand how adoption of such a
single-victim proposal would be a painful blow to those, like me, who are
left to grieve after a two-victim crime, because Congress would be saying
that Conner and other innocent victims like him are not really victims --
indeed, that they never really existed at all. But our grandson did live.
He had a name, he was loved, and his life was violently taken from him
before he ever saw the sun. And what about mothers who survive
criminal attacks but lose their babies? I don't understand how any senator
can vote to force prosecutors to tell such a grieving mother that she didn't
really lose a baby -- when she knows to the depths of her soul that she
did. The single-victim bill seems to be based
on the idea that the only thing that matters is how severe a sentence can be
imposed -- but that is wrong. It is important that the punishment be
severe, definitely. But it is also important that the true nature of the
crime be recognized. This is a question not only of severity, but of
justice. The single-victim proposal would be a step away from justice, not
toward it. If this single-victim bill were the law in California, there
would be no second homicide charge for the murder of Conner. But there were
two bodies that washed up in San Francisco Bay, and the law should recognize
that reality. Senator Kerry, in the interests of
justice, I implore you to reject the single-victim proposal and support the
Unborn Victims of Violence Act. Sincerely, Sharon Rocha
Read what Senator John Kerry
says about the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
To go to the main Unborn Victims page, click
here.
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