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Information on the
Federal Unborn Victims Law:
National
Right To Life's Unborn Victims of Violence Page
Picture
of Traci Marciniak holding her son Zachariah, who was
killed in utero, at his funeral
Testimony
of Tracy Marciniak.
John
Ensign's Letter On UBVA
Answering
Arguments Against SB 299
Nevada LIFE Testimony
On SB 299:
Nevada
LIFE Testimony On SB 299, The NV Lacy and Connor's Law April 6,
2007.
Nevada
LIFE Supplemental Testimony On SB 299, The NV Lacy and
Connor's Law April 6, 2007.
Nevada LIFE Press
Releases:
One
Victim or Two?
Nevada's Laci and Connor's Law Gets
Hearing Friday,
April 4, 2007.
Nevada
LIFE Press Release on Laci and Connor's Law Feb. 25, 2004
Nevada
LIFE Press Release on Laci and Connor's Law March 18, 2004
Nevada
Unborn Victims Bill Hearing April 6, 2007
SB 299:
Text
of SB 299.
Follow
SB 299
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Nevada
LIFE Testimony On SB 299, The NV Lacy and Connor's Law April 6,
2007.
Testimony of
Don Nelson
President,
Nevada LIFE
Before
the Senate
Judiciary Committee
Regarding
Senate Bill 299
April
6, 2007
Mr.
Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Don Nelson.
I am from Sparks, Nevada and President of Nevada LIFE.
I am representing Nevada LIFE (Life Issues Forum and
Education). Nevada
LIFE supports this bill as written for several reasons.
First,
the law should be changed to say the unborn is a distinct victim
because there is no doubt that the unborn child is a distinct
human being from the first day of his existence.
At conception the unborn has his own biological identity
by virtue of his own unique genetic code which also guides his
development. The
heart begins to beat by 21 days, brain waves are recorded by 40
days and all of his systems are in place by 8 weeks.
Ultrasound technology shows the unborn playing in the
womb and at other times smiling and waving to the camera.
Twins have been seen hugging their siblings in utero.
We instinctively know the unborn is someone and not
something-a human being whom we love.
And so we name them, read to them and make places for
them in our homes long before they are born. So
the unborn is a distinct human being fully sharing in our
humanity and deserves to be recognized as such. An attack on the
unborn is an attack on a distinct human being and makes him a
second victim.
Second,
Nevada Law needs to be changed so justice is done and the
punishment fits the crime.
Is 1-10 years in prison and a maximum $10,000 for killing
an unborn child fitting? Of
course not. There’s
no difference between a child growing in the safe harbor of his
mother’s womb and a child a few days removed other than the
fact that he’s in a different location.
That’s a geographical fact, not a moral one.
The unborn deserves the same protections of the laws as
newborns do.
And
the current law, though giving some protection, is not justice
for the mother of the unborn nor the family of the unborn.
How do one to ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine do
justice to the family? And
if the unborn is not called a distinct victim, it’s telling
the mother and the family that the unborn is a mere something
and not someone.
Critics
oppose this bill in part because they say it
“creates a precedent for eroding a woman's right to make
decisions about her own fertility.”
But Sharron
Rocha, Laci Peterson’s mother and Connor Peterson’
grandmother notes that California' s
unborn victim law has been in effect
since 1970 and has
not affected the availability of legal abortion-nor do unborn victims laws in
33 other states. California
leads the nation in abortions and Mrs. Rocha rightly says that
it was California’s unborn victims provision that was used to
convict Scott Peterson of murdering her grandson Connor.
Critics
also say these laws do nothing to protect women from violence.
Tracy Marciniak’s son Zachary was brutally murdered in
the womb by his father (Marciniak’s husband) just before he
was to be born. In
Wisconsin there were no unborn victims laws and the assailant
was only charged with and convicted of first-degree reckless
injury, and for false imprisonment.
Before his trial he said that he would never have
assaulted Marciniak if he had thought he could be charged with
killing an unborn baby. The
words of this assailant say loud and clear that this will
protect women as well as children.
Thank
you for your time. Please
support SB 299.
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