Indiana is considering an expanded law to allow for separate murder charges for harming a preborn baby during a crime against a pregnant woman. Currently, the law allows for separate charges only in later stages of pregnancy.
The legislation follows a recent Indianapolis bank shooting that injured a teller and killed her preborn twin girls. Because the mother was five months pregnant, the shooter is not facing murder charges.
Sen. Jim Merritt, a Republican, said he plans to introduce a bill that would amend the murder statute to include a preborn baby at any state of development.
"The expectation of a child is a remarkable feeling — to have that stolen from you is just tragic,” he told The Associated Press.
County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi also is calling for longer prison sentences.
"This is not a reproductive-rights issue," Brizzi said. "This is protecting unborn children at conception."
Twenty-five states have fetal-homicide laws that allow homicide charges at any stage of gestation. Several states, including Indiana, have laws protecting preborn babies only at later stages.
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