Spare_change
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- Jun 27, 2011
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(CNSNews.com) – Republican lawmakers in Colorado have introduced a bill that would allow someone to be charged with murder for killing an unborn child, prompted by the attack on a pregnant woman whose baby was cut from her womb.
Michelle Wilkins was responding to a Craigslist ad for baby clothes on March 18 when she was beaten and her baby, Aurora, was cut from her womb and later died. Dynel Lane was charged with the attack on Wilkins and with unlawful termination of a pregnancy – which carries a penalty of up to 32 years in jail - but not for Aurora’s murder.
District Attorney Stan Garnett said that’s because the coroner concluded that Aurora was not alive outside the womb, so the baby did not qualify as a person under state law, TheDenverChannel.com reported on March 26.
GOP lawmakers, however, are looking to change that. They have introduced Senate Bill 15-268, which “defines ‘person’ for the purposes of homicide and assault offenses as a human being and includes an unborn child at every stage of gestation from conception until live birth.”
The bill does not apply to abortion.
“For purposes of a prosecution of a homicide or assault offense, the bill does not apply to: An act committed by the mother of her unborn child; A medical procedure performed by a physician or other licensed medical professional at the request of a mother of her unborn child or the mother's legal guardian; or The lawful dispensation or administration of lawfully prescribed medication,” the bill states.
"There are two victims, both victims under the law deserve justice. In this case ... justice is denied to one of the victims and that is not acceptable," Colorado State Senate President Bill Cadman (R-Colorado Springs), who introduced the bill, told the Denver Post.
Michelle Wilkins was responding to a Craigslist ad for baby clothes on March 18 when she was beaten and her baby, Aurora, was cut from her womb and later died. Dynel Lane was charged with the attack on Wilkins and with unlawful termination of a pregnancy – which carries a penalty of up to 32 years in jail - but not for Aurora’s murder.
District Attorney Stan Garnett said that’s because the coroner concluded that Aurora was not alive outside the womb, so the baby did not qualify as a person under state law, TheDenverChannel.com reported on March 26.
GOP lawmakers, however, are looking to change that. They have introduced Senate Bill 15-268, which “defines ‘person’ for the purposes of homicide and assault offenses as a human being and includes an unborn child at every stage of gestation from conception until live birth.”
The bill does not apply to abortion.
“For purposes of a prosecution of a homicide or assault offense, the bill does not apply to: An act committed by the mother of her unborn child; A medical procedure performed by a physician or other licensed medical professional at the request of a mother of her unborn child or the mother's legal guardian; or The lawful dispensation or administration of lawfully prescribed medication,” the bill states.
"There are two victims, both victims under the law deserve justice. In this case ... justice is denied to one of the victims and that is not acceptable," Colorado State Senate President Bill Cadman (R-Colorado Springs), who introduced the bill, told the Denver Post.
