Justice for Children 
By Mark Shepard

Salvatore MacEwan of Rutland was charged with murder in the death of his five-week old child, to which after a year-and-a-half he has pleaded guilty. The judge is considering a mere 14-year prison sentence for MacEwan’s heinous abuse of his child and the resulting murder (article here).

BUT did you know....had MacEwan instead beaten his child’s mother to cause the death of his child six weeks earlier when the baby was still in the womb, he would have never faced any murder charges!  That's right!  In Vermont, if a man beats a pregnant woman until her baby dies, he does not get charged or prosecuted for the death of her baby. It is the same with vehicular homicide, DUI, and other acts of negligence or intent that result the death of a child still in the womb. That’s Vermont law and any sense of justice demands this travesty be fixed, just as has been done in 35 other states as well as federally. Check out www.BenningtonBabies.com and join the many other Vermonters who are working to get action on bills in the Senate and House that will fix the law, so those who are guilty of killing children in the womb by injuring the mother, don't walk free.

As unimaginable as it is, there are some in the Vermont legislature who are obstructing progress on this matter, and they happen to be in leadership. 

Vermont’s children need your help!  On behalf of the most defenseless, contact your legislators and  encourage, support or implore, whichever best helps the particular legislator move this issue forward, so that this law is fixed this session, for justice and for the protection of pregnant women and the babies they carry.  It is way beyond time that Vermont law makes these types of killings a crime.  Send a clear message that Vermonters Value Children!

Mark Shepard
Vermont State Senator, 2003-2006
Bennington