Your help is needed today in support of the House version of SB40, the Fetal Homicide bill
SB40, the Senate’s version of a fetal homicide law, which was amended by the House to give rights to all families seeking justice for the loss of their babies after 8 weeks gestation due to violent / neglegent homicide, went to a committee of conference meeting yesterday, June 15. They are still deliberating. Senators Carson (R), Bradley(R) and Lasky(D) are on the committee, and seek to restore the Senate’s original language to protect only families who have lost viable babies “capable of sustained extrauterine survival,” effectively gutting the bill.
We need everyone to call House members Tholl, Burt, Welch, and Rideout to ask them to support the HOUSE VERSION of SB 40.
The committee will re-convene Thursday, June 18, at 1 p.m. Conference reports are due by the end of that day, with full House and Senate action no later than June 25.
Note: This is about justice for families who lose wanted babies due to criminal activity and the Senate language would actually protect fewer babies than no change at all. The existing House language is the compromise positon as all babies from conception on should be covered, not just those over 8 weeks old, as they are in many states and by the federal government. There is also some talk of the likelihood that the original SB 40 would undermine the rights of babies “born alive.”
For the full list of committee members and phone numbers see here:
Senate:
Sharon Carson:
(603) 434-2489
Jeb Bradley:
(603) 387-2365
(603) 271-2106
House:
John Tholl
(603) 837-2278
David Welch
(603) 642-4402
(603) 642-4402
