Terry Everett, February 23, 2004

With over a year of near constant media coverage, few Americans have not heard of the tragic murder case of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner. The incident is more than a well-publicized murder investigation, however. It symbolizes the need for national protection of the most defenseless of us all, the unborn. Accordingly, the U.S. House will address the issue by voting this week on Laci and Conner's Law.

In our country, the focus of legal protection for victims of violent crime has heretofore been the direct victim or victims. More specifically, in cases where a pregnant mother is attacked and/or killed, and the violent act causes injury or death to her unborn child, the criminal faces no penalty under Federal law for killing the unborn baby.

To apply this situation to the real world, in a case like that of Laci and Conner Peterson, the murderer would only be charged with the death of the mother, Laci, and not her son, Conner. This is morally wrong and I believe the law should be changed. So does a majority of Americans. A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted on August first found that 79 percent of all Americans believe that those whose violent actions lead to the death of a pregnant woman's fetus should be charged with murder. Nearly 70 percent of those who consider themselves "pro-choice" share that view according to the poll.

To correct this legal oversight, I have cosponsored the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (HR 1997) here in the U.S. House. Known as Laci and Conner's Law, HR 1997 would mandate that those who injure or kill an unborn child will be charged with a separate offense. Furthermore, the punishment would be the same as that applied to a similar crime against the woman herself.

Opponents of the legislation have called it "symbolic" and unneeded. But how many women in America would view the loss of their loved, unborn child through violent means as merely symbolic? Tracy Marciniak's unborn child was murdered by her husband. On July 8 she told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee, "Please don't tell me that my son was not a real murder victim" and "please remember Zachariah's name and face."

On January 7, 18-year-old Ashley Lyons and her unborn son, Landon, were murdered. Carol Lyons, Ashley's mother and Landon's grandmother, said in testimony before the Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee, "Nobody can tell me that there were not two victims. I placed Landon in his mother's arms, wrapped in a baby blanket that I had sewn for him, just before I kissed my daughter goodbye for the last time…".

The need for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act is not limited to just a few sensational cases. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was revealed that the leading cause of death of pregnant women in Maryland was not health-related ailments, but, in fact, homicide.

To date, 28 states have passed similar legislation to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. However, the unborn deserve nothing less than full protection against these violent acts. Laci and Conner's Law merits swift passage.

Congressman Terry Everett represents the 2nd Congressional District of Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives.