Colorado Democrats today killed a bill that would add the state to the list of more than 25 states that provide justice and protection for pregnant women and unborn children.
The national law and laws in more than half of the states in the nation allow prosecutors to charge criminals for two crimes when they kill and injure both a pregnant mother and her unborn child in the course of a violent crime outside the context of abortion, Without this law in place, assailants would only be held accountable for killing or injuring the mother in such an attack or assault and would face no punishment for killing the unborn child — even days before birth.
According to the National Right to Life Committee, some 35 states recognize the unlawful killing of an unborn child as homicide in at least some circumstances. The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, enacted April 1, 2004, covers unborn victims of federal and military crimes.
Of the 35 states, 25 of them offer justice and protecting for women and unborn children throughout pregnancy while another 10 offer the protection only during the early stages.
Rep. Janak Joshi, a Republican behind the bill, which is not related to abortion, had hoped the committee would approve it.
“Today, Colorado law has a glaring loophole that fails to protect unborn children who are harmed or killed during the commission of a crime,” Joshi said in an email to LifeNews.
The bill faced its first hurdle in the House today before the State Affairs Committee, which ended up killing the measure.
Before the debate and vote, Joshi expected the bill would have a rough time.
“I’m hearing terrible rumors that the pro-abortion lobby is going to try and kill this basic, common sense bill, as quickly as they can,” Joshi said. “In the past, pro-abortion legislators have tried to dismiss this type of bill as unnecessary. Even though this bill is not about abortion, the radical pro-abortion lobby is pulling out all the stops to defeat this bill. In fact, Planned Parenthood has publicly admitted that they refuse to give even an inch when it comes to protecting pre-born babies. ”
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Joining Joshi at the hearing was Heather Surovik. Last spring she was struck by a drunk driver while in her 9 month of pregnancy. Her unborn son, Brady, was killed in the accident. Tragically, the district attorney was not able to charge the drunk driver with the death of Brady because Colorado law currently offers NO protection for unborn children who are the victims of crime.
Joshi said “it’s basic, common sense that violent offenders be held responsible for their actions, regardless of the age or status of their victim.”
