By: Deacon Keith Fournier
© Third Millennium, LLC

Like many of you, I watched the signing of this historic legislation; relieved that this Whitehouse had the courage to do what we all know is right. President Bush signed into law the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act”:

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Sec. 1841. Protection of unborn children

(a)(1) Whoever engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law listed in subsection (b) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury (as defined in section 1365) to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section.
`(2)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the punishment for that separate offense is the same as the punishment provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child's mother.
`(B) An offense under this section does not require proof that--
`(i) the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or
`(ii) the defendant intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child. `(C) If the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall instead of being punished under subparagraph (A), be punished as provided under sections 1111, 1112, and 1113 of this title for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.
`(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the death penalty shall not be imposed for an offense under this section.

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We all know the truth - even those advocates of abortion on demand who fought so adamantly against this very reasonable piece of legislation. With every procured abortion, we are killing very real children in the first home of the whole human race. None of these children killed by the wrong “choice” have a say in the matter because they have no voice. Their screams, (which most assuredly occur at every abortion) are muffled behind the walls of what was once the safest place on earth, their mother’s wombs.

We have allowed a counterfeit notion of freedom as a raw power over others to remain the “law” of a land that purports to cherish human rights. This legislation, though welcome, is a sad pittance of what our children truly deserve. Science has confirmed what common sense and the natural law written on every human heart has told us all along, the child in the womb is our neighbor and our selective approach to welcoming them into our community is supremely unjust.

Finally, at least for some who engage in the crime of taking innocent human life in utero, it is now rightly labeled a crime.

I went to Law School many years ago to be a part of the first class action on behalf of all unborn children killed by abortion. I have spent most of my legal career chipping away at the idol of legalized abortion. Let me be among the very first to serve notice on the denizens of “death on demand” who “fear” that this legislation is only a first step in efforts to criminalize all abortions—you are absolutely right. It is!

The equal protection issues are now crystal clear. When the perpetrator of one of the crimes in this penal legislation kills an unborn child, he or she can be prosecuted for that homicide. It is obvious. Why is that unborn life any less “valuable” when some one kills him or her otherwise?

I assure every one reading this article, including those who “fear” that this legislation is just a step toward the ending of the Supreme Court created “right” to kill unborn children, the end of Roe v. Wade is quickly approaching. This “Some” Unborn Victims of Violence Act has just opened the door to the end of legal abortion. It also heralds the coming of a new culture of life and a civilization of love.

To all who share my passion for protecting all life, from conception to natural death, this legislation must not be the end, but rather the beginning. It is time to protect ALL unborn victims of violence.

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Keith Fournier is a married Roman Catholic Deacon, who also serves the Melkite Greek Catholic Church with approval. He is a human rights lawyer and a graduate of the John Paul II Institute of the Lateran University, Franciscan University of Steubenville and the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law. He is a co-founder of the Your Catholic Voice Movement and the founder of Common Good.

Contact

Catholic Online
http://www.catholic.org  VA, US
Deacon Keith Fournier - Editor, 757 546-9580

Email

keithfournier@cox.net

Keywords

Pro-Life