Fetal Homicide Laws – We Can Do More

Earlier this year, an attack on a pregnant woman in Colorado that ended with the death of her unborn baby – but no charges filed for the baby’s murder – has reminded us of an often-overlooked area in the right to life battle.

The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) has been on the forefront of the pro-life movement for many years.

We have defended sidewalk counselors, worked on behalf of crisis pregnancy centers, and have represented whistleblowers who exposed fraudulent overbilling of taxpayer funds by Planned Parenthood.

Our efforts even extend abroad, where our international affiliate, the European Centre for Law & Justice (ECLJ), is submitting a report before the Council of Europe regarding the rights of infants who survive abortions.

Oftentimes, efforts of the pro-life movement are specifically intended to help mothers who have found themselves in difficult situations, or are directed at legislation in pursuit of passing laws that restrict access to abortion.

There is, however, another facet of the pro-life movement that usually does not receive the same amount of coverage.

In the situation I referenced above, a woman was lured to her assailant’s home in hope of buying clothes for her unborn baby girl, with whom she was seven months pregnant. While there, she was attacked and the baby was torn from her womb, ultimately resulting in the baby’s death.

Unbelievably, because Colorado does not consider the unwanted death of an unborn baby to be murder unless it can be proven that the child was born alive, the attacker in this case will not face homicide charges.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, as of March 2013 only 23 states have fetal homicide laws that specifically encompass babies at all stages of gestation.

There are 15 other states that have laws allowing for punishment for the non-abortive death of an unborn child, but are only applicable based on the gestational age of the child or other qualifications.

For example, in Arkansas, a person is not a “person” under the law until 12 weeks gestation, while in Maryland, the baby must have reached viability.

Many states’ fetal protection laws expressly state that these laws do not apply when a consensual abortion is taking place.

Federally, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act was passed in 2004 under President George W. Bush, which “recognizes unborn children as victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of federal or military crimes of violence.” Again, this act specifically carved out an exception for abortion.

The hypocrisy espoused by the conflicting laws regarding fetal homicide and those concerning abortion is astounding.

That several states have laws that consider an unborn baby to be a separate victim in a violent crime, while at the same time protecting the so-called right of mothers to kill those same babies is duplicity at its worst.

Either the unborn child is a human worthy of protection, or it is not. The perspective of the person committing the harm does not change the value of the life being harmed.

While state legislators’ hands are tied to some extent based on the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the legalization of abortion in Roe v. Wade, there is ample room in many state statutes to increase the protections we provide the unborn, and the punishment the state doles out for their harm.

Regardless of your state’s abortion laws, however, if your state is one that does not have specific punishment in place for infant homicide at all stages of gestation, there are ways to engage on this issue. Research the relevant laws in your state and speak to your legislators if more needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable among us.

This is one area of the pro-life movement in which we can do more.