The 2004 Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA) or “Laci and Conner’s Law”, is a policy proposal that was meant to address the status of a human child fetus in regards to the law. The bill was proposed in 1999 and in 2001, but never made past the Senate during the law-making process (CQ Weekly). The policy was rejected due to of the controversy on whether the proposal would interfere with the right to abortion, which the Democrats in the Senate supported (Hirschfeld). On May 7th 2003, Congress readdressed the proposal, but there were obstacles that stood in the way of the enactment of the bill.
The community problem the bill was designed to address was whether a child utero would be considered as a human being in cases of violence. There were …show more content…
The House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill but the Senate did not bring the bill to the floor for voting so the bill never passed (CQ Weekly). On May 7, 2003, Republican representative Melissa Hart played a key role in the political process by reintroducing and sponsoring the bill with 136 other cosponsors. Another important proponent involved in the policy process is President George W. Bush. Claire Buchan commented on the President’s support on the legislation saying, “The president believes that the law should recognize what most people recognize” (Perine). Without the support of the President, the bill would be vetoed, hindering the chances of the bill being passed. The National Rights to Life Committee (NRLC) is an organization that opposes abortion and had been pushing for the enactment of the proposal since the first version of the bill was introduced (Perine). Laci Peterson’s mother Sharon Rocha was another important supporter who vigorously pressured lawmakers to pass the bill. Some important opponents of the bill include Dianne Feinstein and Zoe Lofgren and Senator John Kerry. These three politicians played the most influential roles in the attempt to block the proposal during the legislative …show more content…
Wade. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who was associated with these pro-choice groups, proposed an amendment in the House that would that would create a separate crime against a pregnant woman that interrupts or ends her pregnancy, which would ultimately lead to a fine and imprisonment up to 20 years (Dlouhy). According to CQ Weekly, Senator Diane Feinstein proposed a similar amendment during the floor consideration of the Senate which would, “allow prosecutors to pursue multiple charges against defendants who harm pregnant women and affect their pregnancies but would not have established a separate legal status for fetuses.” The goal of the proposed amendments were to offer alternatives to the bill while at the same time objecting the idea of a child utero being recognized as a legal person in legislation. The opponents of the policy supported Feinstein’s and Lofgren’s proposal, but both amendments were defeated (Perine). Democrat representative John Kerry was a presidential nominee during the 2004 presidential campaign and was running against President George W. Bush. Kerry fully supported Feinstein’s single-victim substitute and was one of the members who voted in favor of the amendment (Perine). According to the Los Angeles Times, Senator Kerry also took the time from his presidential campaign to
The community problem the bill was designed to address was whether a child utero would be considered as a human being in cases of violence. There were …show more content…
The House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill but the Senate did not bring the bill to the floor for voting so the bill never passed (CQ Weekly). On May 7, 2003, Republican representative Melissa Hart played a key role in the political process by reintroducing and sponsoring the bill with 136 other cosponsors. Another important proponent involved in the policy process is President George W. Bush. Claire Buchan commented on the President’s support on the legislation saying, “The president believes that the law should recognize what most people recognize” (Perine). Without the support of the President, the bill would be vetoed, hindering the chances of the bill being passed. The National Rights to Life Committee (NRLC) is an organization that opposes abortion and had been pushing for the enactment of the proposal since the first version of the bill was introduced (Perine). Laci Peterson’s mother Sharon Rocha was another important supporter who vigorously pressured lawmakers to pass the bill. Some important opponents of the bill include Dianne Feinstein and Zoe Lofgren and Senator John Kerry. These three politicians played the most influential roles in the attempt to block the proposal during the legislative …show more content…
Wade. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who was associated with these pro-choice groups, proposed an amendment in the House that would that would create a separate crime against a pregnant woman that interrupts or ends her pregnancy, which would ultimately lead to a fine and imprisonment up to 20 years (Dlouhy). According to CQ Weekly, Senator Diane Feinstein proposed a similar amendment during the floor consideration of the Senate which would, “allow prosecutors to pursue multiple charges against defendants who harm pregnant women and affect their pregnancies but would not have established a separate legal status for fetuses.” The goal of the proposed amendments were to offer alternatives to the bill while at the same time objecting the idea of a child utero being recognized as a legal person in legislation. The opponents of the policy supported Feinstein’s and Lofgren’s proposal, but both amendments were defeated (Perine). Democrat representative John Kerry was a presidential nominee during the 2004 presidential campaign and was running against President George W. Bush. Kerry fully supported Feinstein’s single-victim substitute and was one of the members who voted in favor of the amendment (Perine). According to the Los Angeles Times, Senator Kerry also took the time from his presidential campaign to