ACTION ALERT: Focus Public Attention on Obstruction of the Unborn Victims Bill in the U.S. Senate!

WASHINGTON (Sept. 6, 2003) - - The U.S. Senate is expected to take up the issue of unborn victims of violence, for the first time ever, in September or October. The outcome remains in doubt, as senators allied with pro-abortion advocacy groups continue to attempt to obstruct the bill. (For details, see the story on page 1 of the August issue of NRL News, posted on the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/DemsstallUVVA.html.)

All NRLC affiliates and other pro-life groups and citizens should promptly call their senators' offices and urge immediate approval of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, or "Laci and Conner's Law" (S. 1019). All senators' offices can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Appropriate e-mail messages on the bill can be sent for free through the Legislative Action Center at the National Right to Life website at www.nrlc.org.

In addition, pro-life groups and citizens should send letters for publication in local newspapers and websites, and call local radio talk shows, to generate public attention to the continued obstruction of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in the U.S. Senate. Here are some of the key points to get across:

* The issue boils down to this: When a criminal attacks a pregnant woman, injuring or killing her, and also injuring or killing her unborn child - - has he claimed one victim, or two?

* According to a Newsweek poll released on June 1, 84% of the public believe that the killing of the unborn child during a crime should be recognized as a homicide (56% throughout development, another 28% after "viability"), while only 9 percent disagreed. According to a Fox News Channel scientific poll conducted mid-July, 79% of Americans (including 69% of those who call themselves "pro-choice") agree that when "a violent physical attack on a pregnant woman leads to the death of her unborn child ... prosecutors should be able to charge the attacker with murder for killing the fetus."

* The bill would apply only when an attack on a pregnant woman is conducted in a manner or place that already constitutes a federal crime - - for example, a bombing, an attack on a domestic partner after interstate stalking, or an attack on ...