Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003

The original event which led to the writing of this bill was the killing of Tracy Marciniak's unborn fetus, and her unsuccessful quest for justice in Wisconsin. She was allegedly assaulted by her estranged husband, Glenndale Black, on February of 1992. Mr. Black was reported to have hit his wife's abdomen twice while she was 4 or 5 days away from full term pregnancy. He initially refused to call 911 or allowed her to call. So, thus the fetus, who was a boy planned to be named Zachariah, unfortunately died in the womb. Tracy wasn't expected to survive either but she did, only to find that, in her state of Wisconsin, a fetus is not considered a human person until it is born. So thus, the husband was charged with first degree reckless injury and false imprisonment but never charged with homicide for causing the death of the fetus. Tracy spearheaded a movement which changed the Wisconsin legal code in 1998. However, there is a gap in the state legislation. It does not apply to crimes committed on federal property. So, she and others promoted a federal Unborn Victims of Violence law to close this loophole. In 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002, the House passed these bills, but the Senate killed them. On January of 2003, Mike DeWine (R-OH) introduced Bill S. 146 in the U.S. Senate to "protect unborn victims of violence." On April of 2003, President George W. Bush urged passage of the bill because he thought it "would recognize a fetus as an independent [human] being if killed or injured during the commission of a federal crime." If the bill is signed into law, it would allow a person convicted of injuring or killing a fetus during the commission of certain federal crimes to be charged with a second, separate offense. Punishment would be that same as if similar injury or death had occurred to the woman carrying the fetus, except that the death penalty could not be imposed. The prosecution would not have to prove that the perpetrator was aware that the woman was pregnant, or that the perpetrator intended to cause the death or injury to the fetus.
In practice, the law would have little impact, since it would only apply to crimes committed in such places as a military base, a post office, bank, or a Native reservation. It would not apply generally throughout the U.S.