Urgent Congressional Alert: NRLC Presses Senate to Act Now on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

WASHINGTON (June 6, 2003) - - The terrible murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn son Conner in California have drawn public attention to the issue of unborn victims of violence beyond any previous case.

As permitted by California law, local authorities have brought two homicide charges in the case. A nationwide Newsweek poll released June 1 found that 84% of adult Americans agree that a criminal who kills an unborn child should face a separate homicide charge, including a clear majority - - 56% of adults - - who said that this should apply at any point in the baby's prenatal development. (See story, page 1.)

Yet, if the Peterson crime had occurred in any of 23 other states, only a single homicide charge would have been permitted. The same is currently true for federal crimes: Unborn children who are injured or killed during violent crimes do not exist in the eyes of federal or military criminal law.

Thus, if Laci Peterson had been a uniformed member of the U.S. armed forces, murdered on a military base, only a single charge would have been possible. Under current federal law, if a criminal who commits a violent federal crime (for example, interstate stalking and assault, or a terrorist bombing) that wounds a pregnant woman and kills her unborn child, he is not charged with any loss of human life.

There is only one reason that such injustices continue: Pro-abortion groups such as NARAL have blocked unborn victims laws in many states, and they have blocked the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act since 1999 in the U.S. Senate. (The House passed the bill in 1999 and in 2001, and would readily pass it again.) This bill (S. 1019, H.R. 1997) would allow an appropriate criminal charge to be brought for the harm done to any unborn child during the commission of a violent federal crime. Now, the U.S. Senate must act!

Sharon Rocha, the mother of Laci Peterson and grandmother of Conner Peterson, and five other members of the immediate family, have sent a letter asking Congress to pass the bill as a "tribute to Laci and Conner ... in their memory." (See their letter at www.nrlc.org.) Now, here's how you can help pass this bill now:

* Please do whatever you can to generate calls, faxes, and e-mails to ALL U.S. senators, urging them to support immediate action to pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (S. 1019). You can find guidance on how to contact your Senators on this specific issue by going to the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org and clicking into the Legislative Action Center. Or, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask for your U.S. senators by name or state.