Free Republic

GOP lawmaker denounces move as 'cowardly,' 'gutless'AUGUSTA - A procedural move Thursday by Senate Democrats could end chances of passing a fetal homicide bill this session. The bill would create a set of new crimes in Maine including "the murder of an unborn child, manslaughter of an unborn child and assault on an unborn child." The Senate late Thursday afternoon voted 21-14, along party lines, to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee. A supporter of the bill called the Senate Democrats' maneuver "cowardly" and "gutless."The House of Representatives today is expected to consider whether it will concur with...

Adding fuel to the already fierce debate over abortion, Republicans in Congress are invoking the Laci Peterson (news - web sites) murder case as they try to enact the first federal law to endow a fetus with legal rights separate from the expectant mother. Laws similar to the federal bill already are on the books in more than half the states, and with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, the federal measure has a good chance of passing. President Bush (news - web sites) has pledged to sign the act, which sponsors have renamed "Laci and Conner's Law"...