Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 120
03/24/2006 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB20 | |
| HB276 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 442 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 276 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 439 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | HB 308 | ||
| += | HB 325 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 20 | ||
SB 20 - OFFENSES AGAINST UNBORN CHILDREN 1:16:11 PM REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON announced that the first order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 20(JUD), "An Act relating to offenses against unborn children." [Before the committee was CSHB 20(2d JUD), which had been adopted as the work draft on 2/15/06 and amended on 3/22/06; left pending from 3/22/06 was the motion to adopt Amendment 2, as amended; and included in member's packets was a proposed House committee substitute (HCS) for SB 20, Version 24-LS0197\B, Mischel, 3/24/06.] REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON noted that public testimony on SB 20 had been closed at a prior meeting, posited that the bill has been thoroughly debated and analyzed, and acknowledged that there are still differing philosophies regarding what the intent of the bill is and the direction it should take. REPRESENTATIVE GARA remarked that the committee and sponsor have done their best to try to reach a compromise on the bill; however, it looks s though that is unlikely to occur. He said he agrees with the concept of increasing sentences for those who assault a pregnant woman and those who by doing so cause a miscarriage - characterizing such as a heinous crime - and is in favor of the sentence lengths proposed in the bill. He recounted that an amendment he'd proposed [Amendment 2, as amended] would have made the current penalties [for murder and assault] much stiffer if one's behavior is directed at a pregnant woman or causes a woman to have a miscarriage or causes an injury to a pregnant woman and her [unborn baby]. The part of the bill that people aren't going to agree on, he surmised, is the part that could have an impact on Roe v. Wade, that part being the "unborn child" terminology. REPRESENTATIVE GARA added: We could pass the same bill that would say it's illegal to terminate a pregnancy, it's illegal to assault a pregnant woman, it's illegal to attack a pregnant woman, and I could impose the same sentences that everybody on this committee on both sides of the issue would want to impose. But the language that I think will be used by lawyers to reverse Roe v. Wade, I think that's an issue we should fight on some other day. ... REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON interjected to note that members' packets now contain a proposed House committee substitute (HCS) for SB 20, Version 24-LS0197\B, Mischel, 3/24/06. 1:18:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL noted that at the last hearing on the bill, Amendment 2, as amended, was left pending. REPRESENTATIVE GARA withdrew Amendment 2, as amended. 1:19:23 PM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL moved to adopt the proposed HCS for SB 20, Version 24-LS0197\B, Mischel, 3/24/06, as the work draft. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected, and noted that at a prior meeting the committee had adopted an amendment to CSSB 20(2d JUD). 1:20:21 PM SENATOR FRED DYSON, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, said that although he'd not yet had a chance to review Version B, the intention was include the amendment adopted on 3/22/06 as well as language in the original bill that would ensure that a woman could not be prosecuted for any actions she takes that may result in a miscarriage. It was also intended that Version B would no longer include language that would have allowed a woman to be prosecuted for recklessly causing damage to her [unborn child]. The committee took an at-ease from 2:24 p.m. to 2:25 p.m. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked for a quick review of the specific changes incorporated in Version B. SENATOR DYSON explained that proposed AS 11.41.150(a)(4) [and proposed AS 11.41.280(a)(3)] no longer contain the words, "; for purposes of this paragraph, a pregnant woman's decision to remain in a relationship in which domestic violence as defined in AS 18.66.990 has occurred does not, by itself, constitute conduct manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life". REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG expressed approval of that change. SENATOR DYSON explained that proposed AS 11.41.160(a) now says: A person commits the crime of manslaughter of an unborn child if, under circumstances not amounting to murder of an unborn child, the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes the death of an unborn child. SENATOR DYSON, referring to a handout being distributed to members, explained that that was what was given to Legislative Legal and Research Services in order to direct the drafter regarding the changes that were intended to be incorporated into Version B. REPRESENTATIVE GARA said he still has concerns about proposed AS 11.41.170 - criminally negligent homicide of an unborn child - because it could apply to situations wherein a husband, for example, with his pregnant wife in the car, gets in a car accident because he is driving too fast and thus causes his wife to miscarry; under the language proposed via Version B, the husband, in addition to losing his unborn child, would face a charge of criminally negligent homicide of an unborn child - a class B felony - whereas currently, he might only be charged with negligent driving. 1:29:17 PM SENATOR DYSON said his goal when originally drafting this legislation was to establish penalties for damaging an unborn child that were reasonably equivalent to those that would be applied for damaging a born child; in the aforementioned example, the driver would be guilty of negligence and so should face the same penalties as if the child had been born and was sitting beside its mother in a car seat. REPRESENTATIVE GARA reiterated his prior argument and said he can't support this provision. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted that Version B now exempts acts committed by a pregnant woman against herself and her own unborn child, and said he appreciates that change, which involves the inclusion of language found on page 3, lines 1-2, and on page 4, lines 4-5. REPRESENTATIVE GARA, after acknowledging that they may not ever reach a consensus on Amendment 2, as amended, which he characterized as a compromise, suggested that they adopt Version B for purposes of discussion. SENATOR DYSON said that although he is offering Version B for the committee's consideration, he does not recommend adopting it; rather, he would be more comfortable with the committee adopting [CSSB 20(2d JUD)]. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON offered his understanding that Representative Gara has concerns regarding the bill's references to "unborn child". REPRESENTATIVE GARA, in response to comments, offered his belief that situations such as occurred to Laci Peterson can be addressed by severely punishing people for assaulting a pregnant woman - that's what many states have done - and so using the term, "unborn child" is not necessary to effect that goal. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, after reiterating some of his earlier comments regarding the changes incorporated into Version B, removed his objection to the motion to adopt Version B. REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON asked whether there were any further objections to adopting Version B as the work draft. There being none, Version B was before the committee. 1:38:05 PM SENATOR DYSON said his intention is for Version B to no longer contain any language that would allow a pregnant woman to be prosecuted for her own actions. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG remarked that they are not waiving their right to cure typographical or punctuation errors. SENATOR DYSON, in response to comments, assured the committee that he has no intention of using this bill as a vehicle to attack Roe v. Wade, and is willing to provide the committee with legal opinions from three different law professors who state that SB 20 will have no impact on Roe v. Wade. Furthermore, no one has successfully used this type of legislation - either state legislation or federal legislation - to challenge Roe v. Wade. Senator Dyson offered his belief that there is nothing in SB 20 that assigns personhood to an unborn child, adding that he was very careful not to do so. As legislators, he remarked, they have the right to assign value to entities that are not persons, and he is merely attempting to establish - via SB 20 - that an unborn wanted child has value, in and of itself, that will be recognized and protected by law. 1:43:06 PM REPRESENTATIVE GARA - after observing that they may never reach consensus on some of the issues raised such as use of the term, "unborn child" and whether to establish separate crimes or just increase penalties - made a motion to lay SB 20 [Version B] on the table. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL objected. 1:44:25 PM A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Gara, Gruenberg, Kott, Anderson, and Wilson voted in favor of the motion to lay SB 20 [Version B] on the table. Representative Coghill voted against it. Therefore, the motion to lay SB 20 [Version B] on table passed by a vote of 5-1. [Members went on to note that the committee could take the bill up again at any time via a motion to take the bill from the table.]
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