Wyo. Bill Raises Penalty For Killing Pregnant Women, Drops Provision Protecting Fetuses

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 14 Jan 2009 - 3:00 PST

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Wyo. Bill Raises Penalty for Killing Pregnant Women, Drops Provision Protecting Fetuses
[Jan. 13, 2009]

Wyoming lawmakers have introduced a bill (HB 123) in the state House that would increase penalties for the intentional killing of a pregnant woman but does not include specific penalties for killing the fetus, a condition that was included in a similar 2007 bill, the Associated Press reports. The new bill stipulates that anyone who willfully kills a woman who is pregnant can face an additional 20 years to life in prison for causing the termination of the pregnancy. The 2007 bill would have permitted two counts of homicide to be filed for the killing of a pregnant woman. That bill passed both chambers of the state Legislature before it was vetoed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D), who said that state law already protects women by allowing the death penalty for premeditated murder and that the bill would unnecessarily embroil Wyoming in the national debate over abortion rights.

State Sen. Kit Jennings (R-Casper), a sponsor of the new bill, said that the measure has nothing to do with abortion, adding that in situations where a pregnant woman is killed "you ought to be punished for killing two." Sharon Breitweiser -- executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming, which opposed the 2007 bill -- said of the new bill, "We think the intent is the same; we think that it's unnecessary given the current statutes." She added, "All of the sponsors of the bills are and have been the same people who virulently oppose abortion rights and believe that life begins at conception, so I think it's no coincidence that they're the same ones on a bill like this." However, Breitweiser said that "in the spirit of compromise, we will remain neutral -- as long as the bill could not be interpreted to confer fetal personhood status" (Neary, Associated Press, 1/11).

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