Lawmakers Need to Stand Up to Abortion Lobby 
By Mary Beerworth

When Patricia Blair’s six-month old pre-born twins were killed as a result of a car accident caused by a driver cited for driving under the influence of drugs, she was devastated by the loss. Her grief was compounded when she discovered the accident report listed "no fatalities." Charges against the other driver could not include any consequence for causing the deaths of Kaleb Michael Blair, and Harley Olivia Blair because Vermont law does not recognize them as human persons.

So she vowed to change the law.  Patricia Blair told the media, "I never want any other mother to … have the State tell them their babies aren’t babies."

Last fall, she contacted her state Senator and he responded with a desire to help. He introduced legislation to create enhanced penalties for assaulting a pregnant woman.

Not completely satisfied, Patricia contacted other legislators.  Since then, bills have been introduced in both the Vermont House and Senate that would recognize unborn children as victims when their deaths are a result of criminal actions.

Crafted to address Patricia’s concerns without impacting abortion rights, the bills contain provisions that specifically exempt abortion, abortion providers and any act of the woman herself toward her unborn child. Thirty-five states and the Federal Government have already enacted similar laws with similar provisions.

Those provisions, however, were not enough to bring Planned Parenthood of Vermont to the table.

Rather, Planned Parenthood promptly expressed strong opposition to all three bills.  As Vermont’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood can always be counted on to oppose any legislation that they think poses a threat to abortion, whether real or imagined.  Whether it is the current proposals, parental notification legislation, a ban on partial-birth abortion or limits on tax-payer funding of abortion, Planned Parenthood always says no.  And, with their high-powered lobbying team and political allies in the State House, they usually get their way.

What is surprising, however, is that Patricia Blair was not even granted the courtesy of a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The process was abruptly shut down.  The excuses given - not enough time, too controversial - are not credible.

In Kentucky, when a young pregnant woman was found murdered in January of 2004, the legislature immediately took up a fetal homicide bill to address the same shortcomings in their law that we have here in Vermont.  The Kentucky bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by February of that same year.

Despite another incident of a mother losing her unborn twins in a car accident in Morristown in January, and two cases just this month of men charged with domestic assault against their pregnant girlfriends, the Senate Judiciary Committee is unwilling to even consider the need for changes to our laws.

What is lacking in Vermont is the political will to stand up to the abortion lobby.  Some lawmakers choose to protect Planned Parenthood’s interests rather than provide prosecutors with the tools they need and pregnant women with the protections they deserve.

Mary Hahn Beerworth
Executive Director, Vermont Right to Life Committee