New Front in the Abortion Debate / Unborn are = victims, too

From: Subject: New Front in the Abortion Debate / Unborn are victims, too Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 09:40:27 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C4163B.0843F750"; type="multipart/alternative" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C4163B.0843F750 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://www.sfgate.com/templates/sfgatelogo_xsm.gif R0lGODlhZAAZAMQQADEtLqyrq/Hx8UxJSmhlZnZzdLq5uT87PNbV1ePj44SBgp6dncjHx5GPj1pX WCMfIP///wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAEA ABAALAAAAABkABkAAAX/ICSOZGmeaKqubOu+cCzPdG3feK7vfO//J0PB8Sg+Bo4AJOBoOp9JknBg PEZhDMXBATwJqNUqtxEuN0QIcPnBdQUAxnaXRFjHIWR78YyA6+UseUWAcxBhBwoNDQRbeGFQSQIH ZQMEQwByDIqbCwgiAgwFVQMMDCMIC5sBAjthBKwjCY5VJwFhAKYkuYKPoHoQCES3SjlrAwWrIrwP pc0MAnVVuSfLYgx6An5rnjjRawAGs3oMwkUAsc6sDQ4LpW9VTJNGmA4KVQUQ5fg4AuVrCdXCkBs1 glcuTU7kFTHFq42/dqLM7ciipooiPQu9FYFlEEJEOwzFiPC3hgQCAg7O3hho0oBVSgcEDKAMB0GW lDAXaZmwZVGZNJ5FDqyTJo7NSIwPYgEgwCCAgQcNDADA9wDcpAaiRBxJZCDAxz3LvGgbNNRIliqe NIacFwBrzxECYOE5J4LAABG2DJ1pcDdBUkNIAYZB8RRpqCoHKjJbsubaqCZUpjU4MAKmiKeGGLb5 i1RJWBQMxpZhUHgchGxlGIPEwwDBgwXA3jxDkhnPZhEKSD44UMDmZxQCFug+JiuAQgX2zKJRuFQE AwKiHciCugQOAQgK4DhgtXid1kLgw4sfT768+fPo06tfz55GCAA7 ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C4163B.0843F750 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_001_0003_01C4163B.08464140" ------=_NextPart_001_0003_01C4163B.08464140 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/30/EDGL05T62H1.DTL&type=printable New Front in the Abortion Debate / Unborn are = victims, too

= =20 http://www.sfgate.com/=20 Return=20 to regular view
New Front in the Abortion Debate =
Unborn are=20 victims, too
Douglas=20 Johnson
Tuesday, = March 30, 2004=20
=A92004 San=20 Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ

URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chr= onicle/archive/2004/03/30/EDGL05T62H1.DTL=20

According to a Gallup poll released early in February, 57 percent = of=20 Americans are paying attention to the Laci Peterson case, = significantly more=20 than many other judicial proceedings. Scott Peterson is charged with = two=20 murders -- those of his wife and unborn son. That's because the crimes = occurred in California, where, since 1970, the law has applied to the = murder=20 of a "fetus" as well as a born human being. Indeed, the California = Supreme=20 Court specifically held that the simultaneous murder of a pregnant = woman and=20 her fetus also falls within a second law that makes a defendant = eligible for=20 capital punishment if he kills more than one victim in the same crime. =
Twenty-nine states recognize the unborn child as a homicide victim = -- 16=20 throughout pre-natal development, and 13 from some particular point in = pregnancy defined in law. But what about federal law? Pregnant women = are often=20 among the victims of crimes that are covered by federal law -- = terrorist=20 bombings, killings performed by persons engaged in major drug = enterprises,=20 domestic violence on military bases, attacks that follow interstate = stalkings=20 and many others. Now, with the passage of the Unborn Victims of = Violence Act,=20 if a pregnant woman is a victim of any of 68 federal crimes and her = unborn=20 child is injured or killed, prosecutors can bring a second charge on = behalf of=20 the second victim. President Bush says that he thinks such crimes have = two=20 victims, and he has said that he will sign the bill.=20
A Newsweek poll from May 2003 found that 84 percent of Americans = believe=20 that when both mother and fetus die, the attacker should be charged = "for two=20 murders instead of one," including 56 percent who believe this should = apply=20 "in all cases where a pregnant woman is murdered" and another 28 = percent=20 "where the fetus is viable -- that is, is able to survive outside the = womb."=20
The National Right to Life Committee and other groups support = fetal-=20 homicide bills because we recognize that abortion, while critical, is = not the=20 only issue. Peterson's unborn son, and many others like him, were = absolutely=20 deprived of their right to life through acts that were not abortions = and that=20 are in no way shielded by Roe vs. Wade.=20
Sure, opponents insist that the Unborn Victims of Violence Act = "directly=20 contradicts the basic tenet of Roe vs. Wade," as the National Abortion = Federation put it. Yet the more thoughtful observer might consider not = only=20 the public opinion polls cited above, but also that:=20
-- The Unborn Victims of Violence Act explicitly excludes abortion, = and=20 excludes any act committed by the mother herself, legal or illegal.=20
-- Twenty-eight states besides California have fetal-homicide laws, = some of=20 which have been enforced for decades and have had no effect on = abortion.=20
-- Criminal defendants and advocacy groups have mounted more than a = dozen=20 legal challenges to state unborn-victims laws -- and every one has = failed in=20 the federal and state courts. The 1994 ruling by the California = Supreme Court=20 is typical: "[W]hen the mother's privacy interests are not at stake, = the=20 Legislature may determine whether, and at what point, it should = protect life=20 inside a mother's womb from homicide."=20
-- In its 1989 Webster ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a = lower- court=20 order against the most comprehensive of the state laws, a Missouri = statute=20 stipulating that "the life of each human being begins at conception," = and that=20 the "unborn child" has the rights of others under all state laws = (including=20 criminal laws), with the Supreme Court observing that this law could = be=20 constitutionally applied outside the realm of abortion.=20
-- Former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger of Duke = University=20 School of Law, who advised President Clinton on constitutional issues = and=20 authored his 1993 abortion-related executive orders, said, "I don't = think=20 [fetal-homicide laws] undermine Roe vs. Wade. The legislatures can = decide that=20 fetuses are deserving of protection without having to make any = judgment that=20 the entity being protected has freestanding constitutional rights."=20
Perhaps the most compelling argument for the law comes from a = figure now=20 recognized by many millions of Americans -- Sharon Rocha, Laci's = mother, who=20 has emerged as an articulate advocate for the Unborn Victims of = Violence Act=20 and comparable state laws.=20
In a letter to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. = John Kerry=20 (who opposes the act), Rocha noted that Kerry's state of Massachusetts = is=20 among the 29 states that recognize fetal homicide in some = circumstances, and=20 argued that "California's unborn victim law has been [on] the books = since 1970=20 and it does not affect the availability of legal abortion. ... What I = find=20 difficult to understand is why groups and senators who champion the = pro-=20 choice cause are blind to the fact that these two-victim crimes are = the=20 ultimate violation of choice. ... What about mothers who survive = criminal=20 attacks but lose their babies? I don't understand how any senator can = vote to=20 force prosecutors to tell such a grieving mother that she didn't = really lose a=20 baby -- when she knows to the depths of her soul that she did," she = said.=20 "This is a question not only of severity, but of justice. ... There = were two=20 bodies that washed up in San Francisco Bay, and the law should = recognize that=20 reality."=20
Federal law now does, recognizing the pain of Sharon Rocha, her = murdered=20 grandson and all the other unborn victims of violence.=20
Douglas Johnson is the legislative director for the National = Right to=20 Life Committee (www.nrlc.org). An earlier version of this article = appeared in=20 National Review Online.=20
=A92004 San = Francisco=20 Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ
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