| SHARON WITH PRESIDENT BUSH Signing of LACI & CONNER'S LAW |
| HART’S UNBORN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT BECOMES LAW |
 |
| LACI & CONNER'S LAW Published: June 2, 2003 Laci Peterson's family has entered the political arena, lending their names Wednesday to legislation that would make killing a fetus a distinct federal crime. Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, father, Dennis Rocha, stepfather, Ron Grantski and her siblings consider the bill introduced in the House on Wednesday and re-introduced in the Senate a fitting tribute to a woman eight months pregnant when she was killed. "As the family of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner, this bill is very close to our hearts," the family stated in a letter made public on Capitol Hill. "We have not only lost our future with our daughter and sister, but with our grandson and nephew as well." The family support represents a considerable public relations push for conservative lawmakers who have been working toward the Unborn Victims of Violence Act for several years. "This case really illustrates the need for this law," said Amanda Flaig, spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Michael DeWine of Ohio. "It puts a human face on the fact that there were two people killed." The legislation would let the federal government charge people with killing a fetus, if the fetus dies in the commission of a federal crime. California and 25 other states have similar laws, which is why Scott Peterson is being charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and their unborn son. The federal legislation would go further than California's law, though; California's law protects a fetus that has passed the "embryonic stage," pegged at seven or eight weeks, while the more ambitious federal legislation would protect a fetus "at any stage of development." Similar attempts rejected The House passed similar legislation in 1999 and 2001 by relatively comfortable margins, but it did not win Senate approval. Although the legislation specifically exempts abortion, foes dismiss it as a back-door strategy to undermine abortion rights. "It is a sad statement that anti-choice leaders are willing to use a family's tragedy to continue their campaign to steadily take away a woman's right to choose," said Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro Choice America. "The only thing new about this bill is the length to which anti-choice lawmakers and advocates are willing to go to exploit a family's pain in order to move their own political agenda. " Merced Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza, describing himself as "a hawk on people who commit crimes," said Wednesday he would support the legislation if it does not infringe on a woman's right to choose. He said that determination can only be made with a careful review of the bill. Others have been rendered temporarily gun-shy by the notoriety of the Peterson case. Spokeswomen for the National Organization for Women, for instance, say they won't discuss the issue out of "respect for the Peterson family" even though they have traditionally opposed the legislation. A Fox News poll from late April spotlighted by the National Right to Life Committee on Wednesday found 84 percent of the 900 registered voters surveyed believed Scott Peterson properly could be charged with double homicide. Bush's support reiterated About the same time, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was reiterating President Bush's support for the measure. "The president does believe that when an unborn child is injured or 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," Fleischer said. In keeping with the titling of other anti-crime bills, lawmakers are personalizing the legislation by attaching Laci Peterson's name to it. In recent years, Congress has passed Megan's law, Suzanne's law, the Code Adam Act and the Amber Alert measure, among others. "When we heard about this bill, we immediately thought of placing a request to have it named Laci and Conner's law in their honor," the family members wrote. Pennsylvania Republican Melissa Hart, sponsor of a similar bill that became law while she was in the Pennsylvania Legislature, obliged by terming her bill introduced Wednesday the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," or "Laci and Conner's Law." SEE HOW YOUR REPRESENTATIVE VOTED RELATED STORY HOME INDEX LACI'S PAGES CONNER INDEX LACI'S FAMILY PROSECUTION TEAM WITNESS LIST CASE INFO SCOTT |
 |
| LACI & CONNER |
 |
|
 |
| LACI & CONNER FOREVER REMEMBERED |