Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Indiana Lawmakers Strengthen Feticide Sentence
The Indiana House has approved a measure to strengthen the penalty for killing an unborn "child." The penalty now will be six to twenty years for murdering a child while in utero. The new language sadly stops short of calling the fetus a human being that deserves the right to life. Instead, the bill refers to the "termination of a human pregnancy" which of course means by someone other than a doctor that is authorized to kill babies. The bill moves back over to the Senate where it should pass easily and the language of this bill will match what is already on the books for feticide laws. The bill also makes it unlawful no matter what stage of life the baby is in. The previous measure only kicked in for a murder charge if the fetus was past seven months. Congratulations members on passing this, even though it does not go far enough in declaring fetuses as humans. They are now obviously not "part" of the mother. If the fetus dies and the mother lives, a perp is still charged with murder. Add to that the fact the baby has its own DNA and blood type and you have yourself a human baby.