New ‘Offenses Against Unborn Children’ bill written by Florida Catholic Conference

State Rep. Larry Ahern, R-St. Petersburg (Pic by Meredith Geddings, via myfloridahouse.gov)

State legislators have introduced a new bill that has been popular among anti-abortion advocates for years. The bill would redefine the death of a “viable fetus” as the death of an “unborn child,” and would also change laws for vehicular manslaughter involving a pregnant woman.

In the state House, state Rep. Larry Ahern, R-St. Petersburg, and state Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, introduced the “Florida Unborn Victims of Violence Act.” State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey introduced the bill in the Senate.

House Bill 137 amends state statutes to say that “vehicular homicide … is the killing of a human being, or the killing of an unborn child, by any injury to the mother, caused by the operation of a motor vehicle by another in a reckless manner likely to cause the death of, or great bodily harm to, another.” The offense would be considered a second-degree felony, and would not require that the person know the woman involved was pregnant.

Such “Unborn Victims of Violence” bills, or fetal homicide bills, are championed by many anti-abortion groups, including National Right to Life. Ahern tells The Florida Independent that the bill he introduced was handed to him by the Florida Catholic Conference.

The Florida Catholic Conference has been successful at lobbying for stricter abortion restrictions in the state. This year, the group gave policy-makers an amendment to the state’s Medicaid overhaul that allows providers to opt out of providing “family planning services” for “moral or religious” reasons. Advocates for women’s health care have said the policy could create more barriers to health care access for low-income women.

In 2004, anti-abortion groups successfully lobbied federal lawmakers to pass the Federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which President George W. Bush signed. The bill was originally drafted in part by National Right to Life. The law, however, only applies to federal and military crimes. As of May 2011, 27 states have approved laws that are similar to the federal law, recognizing fetuses at all stages of development as victims.

Sheila Hopkins, associate director of social issues for Florida Catholic Conference, says the new bill revises Florida statutes’ “outdated definition” of life. She says the bill would make the state’s definitions consistent with “military statutes and current science.”

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