Alabama House Passes Fetal Homicide Bill

The vote was 93-0. It now heads to the Senate.

The Alabama House passed a bill Thursday that makes it a crime of murder if an unborn child dies in an assault on a pregnant woman.

The bill, by Rep. Spencer Collier, R-Irvington, would treat an assault on a pregnant woman as also an attack on the unborn child. The bill was partly inspired by the Laci Peterson case in California, where her husband, Scott, was convicted of killing both his wife and her unborn child.

However,

The bill exempts the deaths of fetuses in legal abortions or other medical procedures.

Nonetheless, this bill is a step forward in recognizing that unborn children are human beings with certain rights, apart from those of the mother, that deserve legal recognition. As Gov. Riley said, "Pregnant women who have been harmed by violent crime know they are not the only victims. Their unborn child is also a victim and both should be protected by law."