A Senate panel Monday approved a bill that would lead to additional charges if a crime leads to the death or bodily injury of an “unborn child.”
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 4-2 for the measure (SB 876), sponsored by Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland. Under it, a crime that causes bodily injury or death to an unborn child would be treated as a separate offense from the crime committed against the expectant mother.
The measure defines unborn child as “a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”
Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, and Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, likened the bill to other laws that hold people responsible for the results of criminal activity. “I think it’s a pro-woman piece of legislation,” Simmons said.
But Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, and Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, said the bill might lead to a person facing additional criminal charges without even knowing a woman was pregnant.
“We’re getting into some murky water here, I think unnecessarily,” Smith said.
The bill is next slated to go to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
