|
PRESS RELEASE: April 22,
2003
CONTACT: NRLC Media Relations, 202-626-8825,
Legfederal@aol.com
Charge for Double Murder
of Laci and Conner Peterson in
California
Throws New Spotlight
on Unborn Victims of Violence
WASHINGTON (April 22,
2003) -- In a case that is garnering a great deal of attention from the news
media, on April 21 prosecutors in Stanislaus County, California, charged
Scott Peterson with the murder of his wife Laci Peterson and their unborn
son, Conner.
Prosecutors say that Laci and Conner Peterson were killed on or about
December 23 or December 24, during the eighth month of pregnancy. The
bodies of the two victims were recovered and identified separately last week
after washing up on the shores of San Francisco Bay.
This case is drawing increased attention to the expanding national debate
over unborn victims of violence, which is likely to heat up during the
current session of Congress.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and its affiliates have been
extensively involved in seeking recognition of unborn victims of violence
through state-law reforms and through enactment of the proposed federal
Unborn Victims of Violence Act (S. 146), discussed below.
Twenty-six (26) states have enacted laws that recognize unborn victims of at
least some violent crime, during some or all of the period of pre-natal
development. (As recently as 2002, two states, Nebraska and Idaho, enacted
comprehensive unborn victim laws.) A breakdown of the current state unborn
victim laws is posted on the NRLC website here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/Statehomicidelaws092302.html
Even though unborn victim laws have had no impact on the legality of
abortion, these laws are opposed by many pro-abortion advocacy groups and
allied lawmakers. For example, Mavra Stark, president of the Morris County
(NJ) chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), said on April 19,
"Was it born, or was it unborn? If it was unborn, then I can't see charging
(Peterson) with a double-murder." (Parsippany Daily Record, April 20)
This same ideological mindset has caused groups such as NARAL and Planned
Parenthood to oppose the proposed federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
For example, NARAL says the bill "threatens women's rights." (January 17,
2003,
http://www.naral.org/mediaresources/fact/pdfs/prosecutors.pdf )
However, numerous federal and state courts have ruled that laws recognizing
unborn victims of violent crimes do not violate any provision of the
Constitution, and do not conflict with Roe v. Wade or other U.S. Supreme
Court rulings mandating legal abortion. A summary of federal and state
court rulings on unborn victim laws (including the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court
ruling in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services) are posted here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/statechallenges.html
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act (S. 146), currently under consideration
in Congress and endorsed by NRLC, would apply the two-victim principle to
FEDERAL crimes of violence. However, the bill would not impose the federal
death penalty. The bill does not apply to legal abortion. Extensive
information on the federal bill is posted here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/index.html
Some examples of federal cases (including military cases) in which justice
could not be done because of the current absence of such a law appear here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/UVVAfederalcases.html
In the current California case, the criminal complaint charges Scott
Peterson under California Penal Code Section 187, which states, "Murder is
the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice
aforethought." (The California Supreme Court has interpreted the term
"fetus" in a highly technical manner, to apply only after seven or eight
weeks of development.)
NRLC has also endorsed The Innocent Child Protection Act, legislation which
is based on exactly the same principle as the Unborn Victims of Violence
Act. The Innocent Child Protection Act would forbid the state or federal
governments from carrying out a death sentence on a woman while she "carries
a child in utero." On July 25, 2000, the U.S. House of Representatives
passed the Innocent Child Protection Act by a vote of 417-0 (two voting
"present"). See
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/InnocentChildUVVAparallel.pdf
|
