Ethen’s Law Begins Moving Through the State House

Ethen’s Law (HB215) would make it a crime to harm or kill an unborn child. The bill was named after a baby that was killed when his mother was murdered but the unborn child’s death wasn’t prosecuted. Democratic Representative Phil Haire offered an amendment that would prohibit any prosecution for the death of an unborn child until the fetus was at least 12 weeks old. He pointed to a scientific report that indicated most miscarraiges happened during that time frame. Haire also claimed if a woman was angry with her boyfriend she could claim he hurt the fetus by attacking her. Committee members voted down his amendment and approved the bill. It now moves on to the House Appropriations Committee.