With the passage of House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 319 during the 2004 General Assembly session, Virginia became the 30th state with a fetal homicide law. The legislation was signed into law by Gov. Mark Warner late May 21 and becomes effective July 1. House Bill 1, sponsored by Delegate John A. Cosgrove (R – Chesapeake), “provides that any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation kills the fetus of another is guilty of a Class 2 felony. The bill also provides that any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately and maliciously kills the fetus of another is guilty of a felony punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than 40 years.”

Senate Bill 319, sponsored by Senator Kenneth W. Stolle (R – Virginia Beach), is identical to House Bill 1 and provides “that any person who maliciously, willfully, deliberately, and unlawfully kills the fetus of another is guilty of a felony punishable by five to 40 years in prison and that if the act is done with premeditation it is punishable as a Class 2 felony.” Both House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 319 were passed by a vote of 74-25 and 76-23, respectively.

Governor Warner proposed an amendment to both bills, requesting that the General Assembly “affirm in law that these bills are not intended to affect the rights of women recognized by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade .” VSHL strongly opposed the Governor’s amendments which were defeated on April 21 by large margins in both houses. Just before midnight of the May 21 deadline for acting on legislation passed by the General Assembly, Gov. Warner signed the bills into law.

There are currently 18 states with homicide laws that provide full-coverage for unborn victims of violence. These states that recognize unborn children as victims of violence throughout pre-natal development are AZ, ID, IL, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, ND, OH, PA, SD, TX, UT, VA, and WI. Another 12 states have homicide laws that recognize unborn children as victims of violence during part of pre-natal development: AR, CA, FL, GA, IN, MA, NV, OK, RI, SC, TN, and WA.

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, June 2004