Gary Hart: “I want to also emphasize the support we have heard today not only from our colleagues, but the support we have heard…”

“I want to also emphasize the support we have heard today not only from our colleagues, but the support we have heard today from the Lyons family from Kentucky, the support that we have heard from a number of different families who have experienced this tragic loss of their daughter and their grandchild. It is a very sad situation that we are talking about with this legislation, but it is one that we obviously can try to help prevent through a criminal law, through recognition of the mother and the child both as victims, and one that I think we would be remiss in fact in our work if we do not pass this legislation. Recent polling shows that upwards of 80 percent of registered voters, and that includes 69 percent of registered voters who identify themselves as pro-choice, believe that prosecutors should be able to separately charge the attacker who attacks a pregnant woman and causes injury or death to her and/or her unborn child. Twenty-nine out of the 50 States already have legislation that recognizes that crime, the crime against the mother and the crime against the unborn child.”