WASHINGTON - - Shown below are the two crucial roll call votes by which the U.S. Senate approved the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (H.R. 1997), a bill to recognize an unborn child as the second victim in a federal crime against a pregnant woman, after first rejecting a competing measure that would have defined the pregnant woman as being the only victim of such crimes.
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) led the five-year battle to enact the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which was originally introduced in 1999 by then-Congressman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and sponsored in the current Congress by Congresswoman Melissa Hart (R-Pa.). In the Senate, the chief sponsor of the companion legislation (S. 1019) was Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio).
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1997, also known as "Laci and Conner's Law," on February 26, 254-163. (See March NRL News, page 1.)
When the Senate took up the bill on March 25, it first debated a "substitute amendment" offered by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.). If adopted, this "single-victim substitute" would have erased the entire text of H.R. 1997 and replaced it with a bill to establish that federal crimes against pregnant women have only a single victim. The amendment failed, 49-50, on the roll call shown below as no. 1 (official Senate roll call no. 61).
This killer amendment was supported by four Republicans, 44 Democrats, and one independent. It was opposed by 47 Republicans and three Democrats.
The Senate subsequently passed H.R. 1997 by a vote of 61-38, shown below as roll call no. 2 (official Senate roll call no. 63). On this final passage vote, the bill was supported by 48 Republicans and 13 Democrats. It was opposed by two Republicans, 35 Democrats, and one independent.
Twelve senators (ten Democrats and two Republicans) voted first for the unsuccessful Feinstein single-victim substitute, and then also to pass the two-victim H.R. 1997.
Because the bill had already passed the House and was not amended by the Senate, it was sent directly to President Bush, who signed it into law on April 1, 2004 (Public Law 108-212).
For details on the Senate action and on the signing of the bill, see the stories that appear on page 1 and elsewhere in this issue. NRLC has also created the most extensive resource center on the Internet on unborn victims of violence, at http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_Victims/ index.html
KEY
X Vote to recognize unborn victims
(to oppose Feinstein Substitute
and/or pass H.R. 1997)
O Vote to deny unborn victims (to
support Feinstein Substitute
and/or defeat H.R. 1997)
NV Absent or not voting
Alabama 1 2
Richard Shelby (R) X X
Jeff Sessions (R) X X
Alaska
Ted Stevens (R) X X
Lisa Murkowski (R) X X
Arizona
John McCain (R) X X
Jon Kyl (R) X X
Arkansas
Blanche Lincoln (D) O O
Mark Pryor (D) O X
California
Dianne Feinstein (D) O O
Barbara Boxer (D) O O
Colorado
B. Nighthorse Campbell (R) X X
Wayne Allard (R) X X
Connecticut
Christopher Dodd (D) O O
Joseph Lieberman (D) O O
Delaware
Joseph Biden (D) NV O
Thomas Carper (D) O X
Florida
Bob Graham (D) O O
Bill Nelson (D) O O
Georgia
Zell Miller (D) X X
Saxby Chambliss (R) X X
Hawaii
Daniel Inouye (D) O O
Daniel Akaka (D) O O
Idaho
Larry Craig (R) X X
Mike Crapo (R) X X
Illinois
Richard Durbin (D) O O
Peter Fitzgerald (R) X X
Indiana
Richard Lugar (R) X X
Evan Bayh (D) O O
Iowa
Charles Grassley (R) X X
Tom Harkin (D) O O
Kansas
Sam Brownback (R) X X
Pat Roberts (R) X X
Kentucky
Mitch McConnell (R) X X
Jim Bunning (R) X X
Louisiana
John Breaux (D) X X
Mary Landrieu (D) O X
Maine
Olympia Snowe (R) O O
Susan Collins (R) O X
Maryland
Paul Sarbanes (D) O O
Barbara Mikulski (D) O O
Massachusetts
Edward Kennedy (D) O O
John Kerry (D) O O
Michigan
Carl Levin (D) O O
Debbie Stabenow (D) O O
Minnesota
Mark Dayton (D) O X
Norm Coleman (R) X X
Mississippi
Thad Cochran (R) X X
Trent Lott (R) X X
Missouri
Christopher Bond (R) X X
Jim Talent (R) X X
Montana
Max Baucus (D) O O
Conrad Burns (R) X X
Nebraska
Chuck Hagel (R) X X
Ben Nelson (D) X X
Nevada
Harry Reid (D) O X
John Ensign (R) X X
New Hampshire
Judd Gregg (R) X NV
John Sununu (R) X X
New Jersey
Jon Corzine (D) O O
Frank Lautenberg (D) O O
New Mexico
Pete Domenici (R) X X
Jeff Bingaman (D) O X
New York
Charles Schumer (D) O O
Hillary Clinton (D) O O
North Carolina
John Edwards (D) O O
Elizabeth Dole (R) X X
North Dakota
Kent Conrad (D) O X
Byron Dorgan (D) O X
Ohio
Mike DeWine (R) X X
George Voinovich (R) X X
Oklahoma
Don Nickles (R) X X
James Inhofe (R) X X
Oregon
Ron Wyden (D) O O
Gordon Smith (R) X X
Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter (R) O X
Rick Santorum (R) X X
Rhode Island
Jack Reed (D) O O
Lincoln Chafee (R) O O
South Carolina
Ernest Hollings (D) O O
Lindsey Graham (R) X X
South Dakota
Thomas Daschle (D) O X
Tim Johnson (D) O O
Tennessee
Bill Frist (R) X X
Lamar Alexander (R) X X
Texas
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) X X
John Cornyn (R) X X
Utah
Orrin Hatch (R) X X
Robert Bennett (R) X X
Vermont
Patrick Leahy (D) O O
James Jeffords (I) O O
Virginia
John Warner (R) X X
George Allen (R) X X
Washington
Patty Murray (D) O O
Maria Cantwell (D) O O
West Virginia
Robert Byrd (D) O O
John Rockefeller (D) O X
Wisconsin
Herbert Kohl (D) O O
Russ Feingold (D) O O
Wyoming
Craig Thomas (R) X X
Michael Enzi (R) X X