The U.S. Senate has passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as "Laci and Connor's Law," by a margin of 61-38. Virginia Senators John Warner and George Allen voted for passage of the bill.. A key victory occurred when the Senate defeated the Feinstein single-victim substitute by a vote of 50-49. Senators Warner and Allen both voted against the Feinstein killer amendment, and also voted against a killer amendment by Senator Patty Murray.

Please email your thanks to both Senator Warner and Allen for their votes against the amendments and in favor of the bill. You can do so by going to www.nrlc.org and clicking on the Legislative Action Center. Or e-mail can be sent from the Virginia Senators' web pages using these hot links for Senator George Allen and Senator John Warner. Be sure to include your regular mailing address in the text of your e-mails, so that the senators know that the message comes from constituents.

Please also call the district offices closest to you to thank the Senators:

The House of Representatives passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act on February 26 by a vote of 254-163. In Virginia, seven members of Congress voted in favor of the bill: Jo Ann Davis, Ed Schrock, Virgil Goode, Bob Goodlatte, Eric Cantor, Frank Wolf, and Tom Davis. (Congressman Randy Forbes was away because his father had passed away, but he was a co-sponsor of the bill.) Three Virginia Congressmen voted against the bill: Bobby Scott, Jim Moran, and Rick Boucher. You may contact your member of Congress about his or her vote through the Legislative Action Center at www.nrlc.org.

Laci and Connor's Law will next go to President Bush to be signed into law. President Bush has repeatedly expressed his support for the bill; on February 26 he issued a statement saying, "Pregnant women who have been harmed by violence, and their families, know that there are two victims -- the mother and the unborn child -- and both victims should be protected by federal law. I urge the Senate to pass this bill so that I can sign it into law."

VSHL is the Virginia affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.