From: Subject: Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 09:25:39 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0068_01C414A6.A2837F70" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0068_01C414A6.A2837F70 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1204281&TP=getprint

Justice for unborn victims

2004-03-24
By Douglas=20 Johnson

When Robbin Huff went to work at the = Murrah=20 Building in Oklahoma City on the morning of April 19, 1995, she had a = companion=20 -- her unborn daughter, Amber Denise Huff. They died together when = Timothy=20 McVeigh's bomb destroyed the building.=20

Yet the name of Amber Denise Huff does not appear on the official = list of 168=20 victims killed in that horrendous crime, because federal law does not = recognize=20 unborn victims. This week, the U.S. Senate will decide whether to change = that.=20

The federal government prosecutes for many acts of violence, = involving=20 military, tribal or other federal jurisdictions, or related to such = activities=20 as terrorism, major drug trafficking or interstate stalking. The bill = would=20 reform federal law to allow charges to be brought for unborn victims of = future=20 federal or military crimes.=20

The House of Representatives on Feb. 26 passed the bill, 254-163, = with the=20 entire Oklahoma House delegation voting for it.=20

Twenty-nine states allow prosecution for fetal homicide -- including=20 California, which will soon put Scott Peterson on trial for two counts = of=20 murder, for his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. These laws do = not=20 apply to abortion.=20

Besides Amber, two other unborn children died in the 1995 bombing.=20

In powerfully moving testimony before a congressional panel in 1999, = Michael=20 James Lenz Jr., related how on the afternoon before the blast, he and = his wife,=20 Carrie Ann, saw their unborn son on an ultrasound screen, and promptly = named him=20 Michael James Lenz III.=20

The next morning, Carrie Lenz left early for work to show the = ultrasound=20 photos to her co-workers at the Drug Enforcement Administration office. = In all=20 likelihood, that is what she was doing when the bomb killed them both. = "I lost=20 the two people I loved most that day," Lenz told the federal lawmakers.=20

In Oklahoma, the state courts now allow murder charges to be brought = on=20 behalf of unborn victims if they have reached so-called "viability" -- = that is,=20 if the baby's lungs are sufficiently developed to allow long-term = survival=20 independently of the mother, or about 24 weeks (five and one-half = months).=20

The state is prosecuting Terry Nichols for the murder of Amber Denise = Huff,=20 among many others. A state murder charge on behalf of Michael James Lenz = III was=20 dismissed on technical procedural grounds, unrelated to his status under = the=20 law. For a third unborn victim, no charge was possible because that baby = had not=20 yet reached the 24-week point.=20

President Bush strongly supports the bill. Sen. John Kerry, the = presumptive=20 Democratic presidential nominee, has already declared his opposition, = but Sharon=20 Rocha -- mother of Laci Peterson and grandmother of Conner -- has = publicly=20 implored him to reconsider. In a letter to Kerry, Rocha said, "This is a = question not only of severity, but of justice. ... there were two bodies = that=20 washed up in San Francisco Bay, and the law should recognize that = reality."=20

Soon, Kerry and every other senator will vote to determine whether = unborn=20 children such as Amber Denise Huff and Michael James Lenz III, when they = die at=20 the hands of terrorist bombers, drug lords or interstate stalkers, are = unborn=20 victims -- or nobody at all.=20

Johnson is the legislative director for the National Right to Life = Committee,=20 in Washington.

=A9 The Oklahoma Publishing Co. and its subsidiary, = NewsOK.com.
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