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Press Release
President Bush
Urges Congress to Approve Unborn Victims of Violence Act "This Year" (April
25, 2003).
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WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL
OF THE UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT "THIS YEAR"-- PRESIDENT BUSH BELIEVES
THAT WHEN AN UNBORN CHILD IS INJURED OR KILLED IN A CRIME OF VIOLENCE, "SUCH
A CRIME HAS TWO VICTIMS"
For further information, contact: Legfederal@aol.com, or 202-626-8820.
WASHINGTON (April 25, 2003) -- President Bush calls for congressional
approval this year of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a bill to
recognize as legal victims all unborn children who are injured or killed
during the commission of federal crimes, the White House said today.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) applauded the statement by White
House press secretary Ari Fleischer, which came in response to a question
about the Peterson double murder case in California.
Mr. Fleischer told reporters, "The President does believe that when an
unborn child is injured or killed during the commission of a crime of
violence, the law should recognize what most people immediately recognize,
and that is that such a crime has two victims."
President Bush calls on Congress to pass the federal bill "this year," Mr.
Fleischer said.
NRLC has strongly backed the bill, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (S.
146), which is sponsored by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and soon to be
introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Pa.).
This year's bill is the same as bills that passed the House in 1999 and
2001, which were not acted on by the Senate.
"If not for the opposition of groups like NARAL and the ACLU, the Unborn
Victims of Violence Act would have passed the Senate years ago," said NRLC
Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "These groups callously insist that a
crime like the Peterson murder has only one victim -- but two bodies washed
up on that beach in California."
Under the proposed federal bill, if an unborn child is injured or killed
during commission of a federal crime of violence, a second charge could be
brought on behalf of the second victim. The bill specifically excludes
legal abortions, and it does not allow the death penalty to be imposed for
an unborn victim charge.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act would apply only to federal crimes, not
to crimes of violence covered by state laws. Currently, in federal
juridisdictions (including the military), an act of violence that kills an
unborn baby but not the mother is treated as a mere assault, not a homicide.
Twenty-six states currently have laws that recognize unborn victims of
violence, including California, where Scott Peterson has been charged with
the double murder of his wife Laci and their son Conner. A reporter asked
Mr. Fleischer a question inspired by the Peterson case. Mr. Fleischer
declined to comment on that specific case, but he spoke clearly to the
underlying issue.
Although the proposed federal bill explicitly does not apply to abortion,
and the 26 state unborn victim laws have not affected abortion, NARAL says
the bill "threatens women's rights." (January 17, 2003,
http://www.naral.org/mediaresources/fact/pdfs/prosecutors.pdf
)
A breakdown of the current state unborn victim laws is posted on the NRLC
website here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/Statehomicidelaws092302.html
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
Extensive additional information on the issue of unborn victims of violence,
including case histories, is posted here:
http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_Victims/index.html
The official transcript of Mr. Fleischer's complete remarks is posted here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030425-4.html
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