Senate Bill No. 566
(By Senators Kessler, Guills, Minard, Bowman, Harrison, Deem,
Snyder, Smith, Minear, Prezioso, Oliverio, Weeks, Facemyer,
Boley, Sharpe, Bailey, Hunter, Ross, Fanning, Love, McKenzie,
Dempsey, Jenkins, Sprouse, Edgell, Plymale and Unger)
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[Introduced February 19, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-2-30, relating to
establishing the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act"; recognizing
a fetus as a person for purposes of being a victim of certain
crimes of violence against the person; specifying penalties;
providing definitions and exceptions; certain convictions not
barred; and severability.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-2-30, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2A. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-30. Recognizing a fetus as a distinct victim of certain
crimes of violence against the person.
(a) This section may be known and cited as the "Unborn Victims
of Violence Act."
(b) Definitions. -- As used in this section, the term "fetus" means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of
development while carried in the womb of the mother.
(c) For purposes of enforcing the provisions of sections one,
four, five and seven, subsections (a) and (c) of section nine,
sections ten and ten-b and subsection (a) of section twenty-eight
of this article, a pregnant woman and the fetus she is carrying
constitute separate and distinct victims of crimes of violence
against the person.
(d) Exceptions. -- This section does not apply to:
(1) Acts which cause the death of a fetus if those acts were
committed during a legal abortion to which the pregnant woman, or
a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, consented or for
which the consent is implied by law;
(2) Acts which are committed pursuant to usual and customary
standards of medical practice during diagnostic testing or
therapeutic treatment;
(3) Acts involving the use of force in lawful self-defense;
and
(4) Acts of a pregnant woman with respect to the fetus she is
carrying.
(e) Other convictions not barred. -- A prosecution for or
conviction under this section is not a bar to conviction of or
punishment for any other crime committed by the defendant arising
from the same incident.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the "Unborn
Victims of Violence Act" to create a separate criminal cause of
action for crimes of violence where a pregnant woman is carrying an
unborn child.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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