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Canton, OH (LifeNews.com) -- Canton police officer Bobby Cutts appeared in court on Monday and said he didn't kill his girlfriend Jesse Davis and her nine-month-old unborn child Chloe. The case is the latest to draw the nation's attention to violence against pregnant women and how they are frequently targeted because of their pregnancy. Cutts is behind held on $5 million bond and has been charged both for the murder of Jesse Davis and under an Ohio unborn victims law that allows a second charge when an unborn child is killed. The law is similar to the one used to...

Colorado Cmte Kills Bill to Protect Pregnant Women From Violence by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor February 9, 2006 Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- On a party line vote Thursday, Democratic members of a Colorado legislative panel killed legislation that would have protected pregnant women and their babies before birth by allowing criminals who assault them and kill or injure their child to be prosecuted for two crimes. The House Judiciary Committee vote upset families members of those who have been victims of such violence. Colorado Springs resident Erin-Lea Hanson told the Coloradoan newspaper that her unborn grandson "had as much a...

In October, 25-year-old Robert Elliott pleaded guilty to four charges, including attempted first degree homicide of an unborn child. Thursday, he was sentenced for his crimes. Lincoln County (WI) District Attorney Don Dunphy calls this case one of the most heinous and vicious crimes he's ever seen. Back in January, 25-year-old Robert Elliott repeatedly beat his pregnant wife, intending to harm their unborn child, and abusing her in front of their children. Prosecutors say Elliott's abuse caused major trauma to the fetus...his wife eventually miscarried. He pleaded guilty to charges in October, and his reportedly violent outbursts were reason enough...

The jury's sentence of death for Scott Peterson may have grabbed the most media attention but another issue related to the celebrated case may have a lasting legal effect: abortion. The case "put the unborn child on the map for everyone to see," Randy Thomasson of the Campaign for California Families told USA Today. He was right. The killing of Connor Peterson was a key factor in the jury's decision to impose the death penalty on his killer, and the state law that allowed an unborn child to be deemed a murder victim created a serious legal problem for the...

Louisville, KY (LifeNews.com) -- A Kentucky man is being charged under a new law after beating his pregnant wife so severely that her unborn child died as a result. Eric Adam Trask was arrested Tuesday in the assault of his wife Samantha E. Trask and the death of her 5 month-old unborn baby. He was also charged with violating a protective order prohibiting him from having contact with her. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act protects pregnant women and allows prosecutors to charge criminals who kill or injure an unborn child in an attack on a pregnant woman with two...

Louisville, KY (LifeNews.com) -- A Kentucky man is being charged under a new law after beating his pregnant wife so severely that her unborn child died as a result. Eric Adam Trask was arrested Tuesday in the assault of his wife Samantha E. Trask and the death of her 5 month-old unborn baby. He was also charged with violating a protective order prohibiting him from having contact with her. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act protects pregnant women and allows prosecutors to charge criminals who kill or injure an unborn child in an attack on a pregnant woman with two...

There is an item on the Senate's legislative calendar of which I was recently reminded by a good friend. The bill is S. 1019, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and was introduced by Sen. Mike DeWine (R.-Ohio) on May 7, 2003. In his introduction of the bill, Sen. DeWine noted, "In about half of the States today, 26, if you commit a crime of violence against a pregnant woman and her unborn baby dies, you can be punished for the violence against both the mother and the unborn child. But, tragically, if you commit a Federal crime of violence...

REDWOOD CITY -- Scott Peterson was convicted Friday of murdering his pregnant wife and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay -- the conclusion to a case prosecutors portrayed as a cold-blooded attempt to escape marriage and fatherhood for the pleasures of a bachelor life. Jurors found the former fertilizer salesman guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Laci, and guilty of second-degree murder in the death of the fetus she carried.

Unlike the case of the famous athlete who walked away free after murdering two people, a California jury today did the right thing. Scott Peterson was judged guilty of first degree murder of his wife Laci. And he was judged guilty of second degree murder of his son Conner who was within weeks of entering the world. Two lessons were taught today. First, that even in my state, the land of movie stars, breast augmentation, gay pride, illegal immigrants, fruits, nuts, and whackjobs, sometimes people here can do the right thing. Second, inside Laci was not just a group of...

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 108th Congress - 2nd Session As complied through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate Vote Summary Question: On Passage of the Bill(H.R. 1997) Vote Number 63 Vote Date: March 25, 2004, 05:39 PM Required For Majority: 1/2. Vote Result: Bill Passed Measure Number H.R. 1997 (Laci and Conner's Law) Measure Title: A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice to protect unborn children from assault and murder, and for other purposes. Vote Counts: YEAs 61 NAYs 38...

April 25 - While the media spotlight shines on the grisly recovery of Laci Peterson's remains in California, authorities 3,000 miles away in rural North Carolina made a less-publicized, equally grim — and far too common — discovery. On Monday, police found the remains of 20-year-old April Renee Greer, whose dismembered body was found in a trash can that had washed into a farmer's field. Greer was 8½ months pregnant when she was reported missing on March 8. Her boyfriend, Jerry Lynn Stuart, 27, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case. Meanwhile, the slaying of Evelyn Hernandez —...

Conner Peterson is dead, but he is still playing a critical role in this year's presidential election. Republicans are using him to show how deeply they care about the unborn. Democrats are ignoring him, because they do not want a debate over whether or not he had rights. Protesters at this week's Democratic Convention in Boston are raising his name to showcase what they say are some of the main differences between the two candidates for the White House. For many voters abortion is the most important political issue. Strangely, Conner was not an aborted baby. He was a much-wanted...

LUFKIN -- A Lufkin High School student has been charged with murder after police say he killed his unborn twin sons by beating his pregnant girlfriend. Gerardo Flores, 18, was arrested Friday afternoon by Lufkin police after his 16-year-old girlfriend delivered twin boys stillborn at home and sought medical attention at an East Texas hospital, an arrest affidavit states. The teen was five months pregnant. It could be one of the first cases prosecuted under a new Texas law that changes the definition of human life for a murder charge, The Lufkin Daily News reported today. Texas law now defines...

A GUY GOES TO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST AND THE psychiatrist shows him a series of pictures to ascertain his mental health. He holds up a tree and says, "What do you see?" The man replies, "Sex." He shows him a lake and says, "What do you see?" The man replies, "Sex." Several more pictures of assorted items are shown, the patient responding "sex" to every one. The shrink finally says, "Sir, you have a problem; all you see is sex." The patient replies, "You're the one with all the dirty pictures." The old joke comes to mind as I reflect...

Photo of Tracy Marciniak of Wisconsin holding her dead son, Zachariah, at his funeral. Zachariah was killed by his father when he punched Tracy in the stomach during her ninth month of pregnancy. He was convicted for injuring Tracy but not for killing Zachariah.(Photo courtesy of National Right to Life) OPINION -- In a statement released after last week’s passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act by the U.S. Senate, National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy warned, "Giving a fetus at any stage of development [emphasis hers] the same legal rights as the pregnant woman will undermine...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The state Supreme Court strengthened California's fetal-homicide law yesterday, declaring that the killing of a pregnant woman counts as two homicides even if the perpetrator was unaware that the victim was pregnant.</p> <p>The 6-1 decision overturns a 2002 lower court ruling that said a killer must know the victim was pregnant to be guilty of killing the fetus.</p>

 Home > News & Policies   For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryApril 1, 2004 President's Remarksview listen President Bush Signs Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 Remarks by the President at Signing of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004The East Room 2:57 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for coming. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. (Laughter.) Welcome to the people's house, the White House. I'm pleased that you all could be here for the first bill signing ceremony of the year 2004. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act provides...

DeLay: Protection for All Victims, Born and Unborn; President Signs Unborn Victims of Violence Act Into Law 4/1/2004 3:46:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Stuart Roy or Jonathan Grella, 202-225-4000, both of the Office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay WASHINGTON, April 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today commended President Bush for recognizing the loss of human life that occurs when an unborn child is the victim of a crime by signing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act into law. "This law rights a blatant and indefensible wrong by establishing what everyone already...

Another win for the home team!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday signed into law an act that would make it a separate federal crime to harm a pregnant woman's fetus, in a move likely to bolster his support with conservatives in an election-year. Bush gave his approval at a White House signing ceremony to the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" which was passed by the U.S. Senate a week ago by a vote of 61-38. The measure has stirred controversy because abortion-rights supporters say it may open the door to an erosion of reproductive rights by assigning a separate legal...