House approves unborn fetus criminalization bill

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved a bill Thursday that would make it a separate federal crime to commit a violent act against an unborn child.

Seizing on the high profile death of Laci Peterson and her unborn son in California, proponents of the move argue it is needed to ensure the killing of a child in utero is treated properly by the judicial system.

However, critics dismiss the bill as an attempt to enshrine in U.S. law that the rights of a fetus are separate and equal to the mother's to bolster attacks on legal abortion.

The House rejected a substitute amendment offered by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., that would have kept all the penalties in the bill for committing a crime against a pregnant woman without identifying a fetus as a separate individual.

The House previously approved of similar measures twice before, but the bills have never gone anywhere in the Senate.

While it is unclear whether the measure can gain Senate passage this year, GOP leaders in the House are hopeful the strong control the Republican leadership currently has in the Senate can ensure passage in the upper house of Congress.