Crimes and Offenses Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Persons Convicted of Such Offenses; Amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Serious Traffic Offenses, So as to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vehicle; Amend Title 52 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions Concerning Registration, Operation and Sales of Watercraft, So as to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vessel; Provide for Definitions; Provide for Exceptions; Provide for Applicability; Provide an Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes

• Publication year: 2010

Georgia State University Law Review

Volume 23 . Issue 1 Fall 2006 ⁶

3-21-2012

CRIMES AND OFFENSES Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Persons Convicted of Such Offenses; Amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Serious Traffic Offenses, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vehicle; Amend Title 52 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions Concerning Registration, Operation

Recommended Citation

Georgia State University Law Review (2006) "CRIMES AND OFFENSES Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Persons Convicted of Such Offenses; Amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Serious Traffic Offenses, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vehicle; Amend Title 52 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions Concerning Registration, Operation and Sales ofWatercraft, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vessel; Provide for Definitions; Provide for Exceptions; Provide for Applicability; Provide an Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes," Georgia State University Law Review: Vol. 23: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/gsulr/vol23/iss176

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and Sales ofWatercraft, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vessel; Provide for Definitions; Provide for Exceptions; Provide for Applicability; Provide an Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes

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CRIMES AND OFFENSES

Crimes Against the Person: Revise the Definition of Feticide; Prohibit the Voluntary Manslaughter of an Unborn Child; Prohibit Assaults and Batteries of Unborn Children Under Certain Circumstances; Provide for Punishment for Persons Convicted of Such Offenses; Amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Serious Traffic Offenses, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition of Feticide by Vehicle; Amend Title 52 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions Concerning Registration, Operation, and Sale of Watercraft, So As to Remove the Requirement That an Unborn Child Be Quick in the Definition

of Feticide by Vessel; Provide for Definitions; Provide for Exceptions; Provide for Applicability; Provide an Effective Date; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes

Code Section:

Bill Number: Act Number: Georgia Laws: Summary:

O.C.G.A. §§ 16-5-20 (amended), -28 (new), -29 (new), -80 (amended), 40-6393.1 (amended), 52-7-12.3 (amended). SB 77 654

2006 Ga. Laws 643

The Act makes it a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature to commit an assault against a pregnant female. The Act provides a definition for the phrase 'unborn child': A member of the species homo sapiens at any stage of development who is carried in the womb. Using this definition, the Act makes it an offense of assault to attempt to injure an unborn child that is subsequently born alive. Using the new definition of an unborn child, the Act makes it an offense of battery to intentionally inflict physical harm against an unborn child that is

38 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 23:37

subsequently born alive. Assault is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and battery is a misdemeanor. Additionally, the new definition of unborn child amends the offense of feticide by removing the requirement that the fetus be 'quick.' Thus, feticide now covers the willful killing of all unborn children, regardless of their stage of development in the womb. Additionally, the Act provides for felony feticide in the event a fetus is killed during the commission of a felony. Finally, the new definition is used to create the felony offense of manslaughter of an unborn child, punishable by imprisonment of one to twenty years. Effective Date: April 28,2006¹

History

In 2004, a jury in a high-profile case found Scott Peterson guilty in the killing of his wife and unborn child.² Months before Scott Peterson's conviction, the U.S. Senate passed legislation making it a separate offense to harm a fetus, at any stage of development, in a federal crime committed against a pregnant mother.³ Senators used the high-profile murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn child to generate support for passage of the legislation.⁴

1. See 2006 Ga. Laws 643 §§ 3,4, at 649. The Act became effective upon approval by the Governor.

2. See Carolyn Marshall, Jury Finds Scott Peterson Guilty of Wife's Murder, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 13, 2004, at A10 ("Some television stations had offered to send notice of the verdict by instant message to mobile phones.").

3. See Carl Hulse, Senate Outlaws Injury to Fetus During a Crime, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 26, 2004, at

Al.

4. See id. The legislation is also known as "Laci and Conner's Law." See 18 U.S.C. § 1841 (2006).

2006] LEGISLATIVE REVIEW 39

With the law "entangled in the politics of abortion," both sides of the abortion debate were involved with the legislation and accompanying rhetoric.⁵ U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein said, "This will be the first strike against all abortion in the United States of America."⁶ U.S. Senator Mike DeWine, chief author of the measure, disagreed, maintaining the legislation is not about abortion, but rather recognizing that "when someone attacks and harms a mother and her unborn child, that attack does, in fact, result in two separate victims."⁷

President Bush, echoing the remarks of Senator DeWine, signed the bill into law on April 1, 2004, noting,"[C]rimes of violence against a pregnant woman often have two victims."⁸ By December of 2004, approximately 30 states had similar feticide laws, many of them inspired by the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner.⁹

Prior to 2006, Georgia law limited feticide to the killing of an unborn child "so far developed as to be ordinarily called 'quick,'" or "capable of movement within the mother's womb."¹⁰ Thus, with a...