Urge the Senate to Pass the
Unborn Victims of Violence Act NOW!
WASHINGTON (January 5, 2004) - - NRLC and other pro-life forces are pushing for action in the U.S. Senate early in 2004 on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (S. 1019).
So far, 40 of the 100 senators have cosponsored the bill - - but the outcome remains in doubt, as senators allied with pro-abortion advocacy groups continue to obstruct the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tn.) has said that he will push for full Senate action on the bill early in the year.
(The House of Representatives passed the bill in 1999 and 2001, and will readily do so again - - the real battle is in the Senate.)
All NRLC affiliates and other pro-life groups and citizens should promptly call their senators' offices and urge immediate approval of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, or "Laci and Conner's Law" (S. 1019). All senators' offices can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Appropriate e-mail messages on the bill can be sent for free through the Legislative Action Center at the National Right to Life website at www.nrlc.org.
The prime sponsor of the bill in the Senate is Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio). There are currently 39 co-sponsors. You can view the complete list of cosponsors of the bill at the NRLC website by going to Legislative Action Center, then to "Current Legislation," then to "S. 1019."
You can also send regular mail to any U.S. Senator at:
Senator ______________________
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Please send a copy of any response you receive from a senator to NRLC by e-mail at Legfederal@aol.com, by fax to 202-347-3668, or by regular mail to NRLC, Federal Legislation Department, 512-10th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20004.
In addition, pro-life groups and citizens should send letters for publication to local newspapers and websites, and call local radio talk shows, to generate public attention to the continued obstruction of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in the U.S. Senate. Mention in your letters whether or not the two senators from your state have cosponsored S. 1019.
Here are some of the key points to get across:
* The basic argument boils down to this: When a criminal attacks a pregnant woman, injuring or killing her, and also injuring or killing her unborn child - - has he claimed one victim, or two? The Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA) would recognize that such crimes have two victims. But pro-abortion Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and other opponents are pushing a phony "substitute" bill that would recognize only one victim of such crimes - - the mother.
* According to a Newsweek poll released on June 1, 2003, 84% of the public believe that the killing of the unborn child during a crime should be recognized as a homicide (56% throughout development, another 28% after "viability"), while only 9% disagreed. According to a Fox News Channel scientific poll conducted this past July, 79% of Americans (including 69% of those who call themselves "pro-choice") agree that when "a violent physical attack on a pregnant woman leads to the death of her unborn child . . . prosecutors should be able to charge the attacker with murder for killing the fetus."
* The bill explicitly does not apply to abortion or to legal or illegal acts that a mother commits that affect her own unborn child. Nevertheless, pro-abortion groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood oppose the bill, because of their extreme ideological position that the law must always be blind to the existence of unborn human beings.
* The UVVA does not create any new federal crimes - - rather, it would apply to acts of violence that are already defined to be federal crimes - - for example, a bombing, an attack on a domestic partner after interstate stalking, or an attack that occurs on federal property. Other violent crimes will continue to be governed by state laws. (Currently, 28 states have laws that provide partial or complete coverage for unborn victims of violence. These laws are summarized on the NRL website at http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/index.html.)
* Surviving family members of unborn victims of violence, such as Sharon Rocha (grandmother of Conner Peterson) and Tracy Marciniak (mother of Zachariah) are imploring Congress to pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and to reject the "single-victim substitute" (Feinstein Amendment). In a letter to lawmakers, Rocha said that "adoption of such a single-victim amendment would be a painful blow to those, like me, who are left alive after a two-victim crime, because Congress would be saying that Conner and other innocent unborn 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."
* For additional information and documents on unborn victims of violence, see "Key Facts on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act," on pages 12-13 of this issue of NRL News, or visit the NRLC website section on the issue at: http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/index.html.
NRLC Spokespersons Challenge Pro-Abortion Groups on Unborn Victims of Violence
NRLC spokespersons are available for interviews on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, or for broadcast debates with representatives of organizations that are lobbying in support of the single-victim position. If you know of a talk show host or other representative who wishes to schedule such an interview or debate, refer him or her to NRLC at 202-626-8820 or Legfederal@aol.com.
One such exchange, between NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson and Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Gloria Feldt, occurred on the program Which Way, L.A.? on NPR affiliate KCRW-FM in Los Angeles on May 29, 2003. Pressed by host Warren Olney, Feldt finally acknowledged that she believed that "the victim" (i.e., the only victim) in the Peterson case was Laci Peterson - - not her unborn son Conner. You can listen to an audio file of the exchange on the NRLC website (requires free RealPlayer software) at www.nrlc.org.