White House says harming fetus should be a crime

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Apr 26, 2003 | by FROM STAFF

WASHINGTON -- With Laci Peterson's husband charged with killing her and their unborn child, the White House on Friday called on Congress to pass a law making it a federal crime to harm a fetus during an assault on its mother.

In 2001, the House passed legislation that was supported by President Bush making it a crime to injure or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime.

Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, voted in favor of the bill, while Democrats Mike Thompson of Napa, Lynn Woolsey of Marin, George Miller of Martinez, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, Barbara Lee of Oakland, Ellen Tauscher of Alamo, Pete Stark of Fremont and Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto voted against it. Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, did not vote.

The Senate never took up the measure.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer declined to comment on the Peterson case specifically.

But asked whether it is appropriate for Scott Peterson to be charged with two murders -- that of his pregnant wife and their unborn son -- Fleischer responded that the president believes that "when an unborn child is killed during the commission of a crime of violence, the law should recognize what most people immediately recognize, and that is that such a crime has two victims."

Scott Peterson pleaded innocent Monday to the murder of his wife and unborn son.

Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve, and the bodies washed ashore last week in the Bay, 3 miles from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing.

California law permits a murder charge for a fetus if a pregnant woman is slain, even if the fetus is not viable.