What other papers are saying
By Staff
Unborn babies should be protected by our laws
The Alabama Senate ended weeks of delays Tuesday and approved compromise legislation that recognizes two victims instead of one when a pregnant woman is assaulted or killed.
The Associated Press reported the Senate passed the bill 33-0 after adding stronger language making clear the law cannot apply to a legal abortion or a miscarriage.
The wording of the new law matches the federal law covering unborn victims of violence. It says the bill will apply “in utero at every stage of development.”
The bill, which passed the House 97-0 in January, now goes back to the House of Representatives for approval of the Senate's changes. The sponsor, Rep. Spencer Collier, R-Bayou La Batre, predicted quick action.
The Senate compromise was supported by the Christian Coalition of Alabama, the Alabama Citizen Action Program, the Alabama District Attorneys Association, and Roger Parker of Guntersville, whose daughter was eight months pregnant when she was gunned down.
Alabama was one of 18 states without a law recognizing two victims instead of one when a pregnant woman is assaulted or killed.
Twenty states have laws that start protecting the unborn at conception, and 12 states have laws that start later in a pregnancy.
The passing of this bill signals that the State of Alabama recognizes the unborn as a viable and valuable life that cannot be taken away through violence without some form of repercussion.
No child should be robbed of their right to be born through some senseless act of violence. If two people are abused, or worse – if two hearts stop beating – then the offender should be held liable for all those damages.
