In December 2004, a jury sentenced Scott Peterson to death for the double homicide of his wife Laci and their unborn child, Conner. However, there would have been no double murder charge if Peterson had committed his murders in one of the 22 states lacking fetal protection laws in 2002.

California enacted its law to protect the unborn in 1970.

The tragic Peterson case over the past two years has raised awareness and demonstrated the need for remaining states to adopt fetal protection laws, which create a separate crime against a woman when it results in death or harm to her unborn child.

On April 1, 2004, President George W. Bush set precedent for fetal protection by signing into law The Unborn Victims of Violence Act (Laci and Conner's Law), which recognizes unborn children as victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of federal or military crimes of violence. The vast media coverage of the murder of Laci and Conner Peterson helped boost the bill.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) lobbied diligently for Laci and Conner's Law, and raised public awareness through articles on our Web site and printed publications, and interviews in broadcast and print media.

"Roe v. Wade stripped all unborn children of being recognized in the eyes of the law. Legislation like Laci & Conner's Law helps to right this wrong by bringing justice to little victims of violence," said Wendy Wright, CWA's senior policy director.

A number of states are still under the common law, which does not prosecute the killing of an unborn child as a homicide unless the child was first born alive and later died as a result of injury caused by a criminal act.

State fetal homicide laws vary greatly in nature, with a variety of differences about when the unborn is considered living and would be protected. The laws exclude legal abortions, yet have been a major issue in the abortion debate.

Pro-life groups, such as CWA, National Right to Life and Americans United for Life, see the importance of fetal homicide laws because they establish legal status for the unborn as being human and having life. These laws acknowledge that violence committed against a pregnant woman involves two victims, not just one.

Pro-abortion rights groups such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood believe that creating fetal rights could undermine a woman's "reproductive freedom." These groups have asserted that crimes such as the killing of Laci and Conner Peterson have only a single victim. The fear is that giving precedent to an unborn baby as having human life could encroach on women's right to choose a late-term abortion.

In response to the vote in favor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization of Women, stated, "Under the disguise of maternal and fetal protection, reproductive freedoms are once again under attack. ...This legislation is another despicable attempt to undermine abortion rights guaranteed under Roe v. Wade."

Currently 31 states recognize the killing of an unborn child as homicide in at least some circumstances. *

In 2004, Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia and Iowa passed new fetal homicide laws. This trend is continuing through this legislative session as Maryland, Kansas and New Mexico have introduced fetal homicide bills in their legislatures. Maryland's bill protects unborn children only after viability, however both Kansas and New Mexico define an "unborn child" as being in any stage in utero.

The American public overwhelmingly supports this type of legislation. A Newsweek Poll taken in May 2003 found that 84 percent of Americans believe that when both mother and fetus die, the attacker should be charged "for two murders instead of one."

It is time for the remaining 14 states without any protection for the unborn from acts of violence to step up and begin passing fetal protection laws. The fetal homicide laws reflect that when Laci Peterson and her son Conner were murdered, two deaths were mourned.

The following states have fetal homicide laws that protect the unborn only after certain stages of development (13): Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Washington.

The following states do not establish legal rights for fetuses, but criminalize certain conduct that terminates pregnancies or causes miscarriages (5): Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico.

Elizabeth Hurley is a student at Gordon College and an intern at CWA.