This is an update from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, D.C., issued Tuesday, July 8, 2003, at 9 am ET.

(Note: Click here for action to take on this legislation.)

WASHINGTON (July 8, 2003) – With U.S. Senate action fast approaching on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Sharon Rocha (S. 1019) -- the mother of Laci Peterson and grandmother of Conner Peterson -- has written letters to a number of key senators urging them to enact the bill promptly, and condemning the "single-victim" substitute proposal that is being promoted by some pro-abortion lawmakers and groups.

On June 27, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tn.) told reporters that he hopes to bring the Unborn Victims of Violence Act to the Senate floor during July. Senate action could occur as early as next week.

The Washington Times reported (July 2) on a personal letter sent by Rocha to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (SD). In a reply, Daschle did not say whether he would support the bill, but said he agreed with Frist that Congress should "consider this issue expeditiously." On June 27, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported on a personal letter from Rocha to Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), an opponent of the bill. In addition, Rocha sent a letter to key sponsors of the bill dated June 16, in which she said she was "astonished and somewhat offended" by opponents of the bill who have criticized the bill sponsors for "exploiting" the Peterson murder case, writing, "[W]e believe that our case does provide a powerful illustration of why this type of law is absolutely necessary, and we urge you to continue to point [to] that connection."

Today (Tuesday, July 8), at 2 p.m. in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee will conduct a public hearing on unborn victims of violence. C-SPAN is expected to tape the hearing for broadcast this evening or later.

Among the witnesses will be Tracy Marciniak, a surviving mother whose personal experience was featured in the June 9 Newsweek cover story, "Should a Fetus Have Rights?" The debate over unborn victims of violence is distilled in a powerful photograph of Marciniak and her son Zachariah, which is reproduced in a recently issued NRLC ad posted here (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader): www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/UVVA%20-%20Dont%20tell%20me.pdf.

"Senators should take to heart the pleas from the surviving mothers, fathers, and grandparents of unborn victims of violence, and reject the callous competing bill that says these crimes have only a single victim," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), which helped initiate the legislation in 1999. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the bill in 1999 and again in 2001, but the Senate has never before taken it up.

For additional information and documents on unborn victims of violence, visit the NRLC website section on the issue at: www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/index.html .

The National Right to Life Committee is the nation's major pro-life organization, representing affiliates in all 50 states.

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