[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PROTECTING UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow this body will vote on Laci and 
Conner's Law, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. This bill would make 
it a Federal crime to kill or harm an unborn child in the act of a 
Federal crime against a pregnant woman.
  Opponents of this bill claim that this is about abortion. They are 
wrong. This bill actually protects the expecting mother. The bill 
identifies 68 existing Federal laws dealing with acts of violence and 
expands them to include harm to an unborn child.
  In upholding Minnesota's unborn victims law, the Minnesota Supreme 
Court said, ``The possibility that a female homicide victim may be 
pregnant is a possibility that an assaulter may not safely exclude.''
  Over half the States have unborn victims protection laws on the 
books. Many have been upheld by State courts. None have affected access 
to abortion.
  Let us put politics aside and pass this bill. We need to protect 
victims of violent crime and their unborn children, and the bill does 
that. It offers a defense for those who cannot defend themselves. It 
makes criminals think twice before attacking a pregnant woman.

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