WASHINGTON, January 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Right to Life Committee (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 this year. The House of Representatives may also take up the bill in the near future. (The House passed the bill in 1999 and 2001, and will readily do so again—the real battle is in the Senate.)
The pro-life groups are encouraging all their supporters to promptly call their senators’ offices and urge immediate approval of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, or “Laci and Conner’s Law” (S. 1019). In addition, pro-life groups and citizens are asked to 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.
The bill would see to it that when a criminal attacks a pregnant woman, injuring or killing her, and also injuring or killing her unborn child, the law would recognize that such crimes have two victims. 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 percent disagreed.
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.
With files from National Right To Life