"District law is consistent -- consistent in refusing to protect the right to life of an unborn child at any moment prior to birth, either from abortionists or from knife-wielding home invaders." -- NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson

Contact: Megan McCrum, 202-626-8820, federallegislation@nrlc.org; Jessica Rodgers, 202-626-8825, mediarelations@nrlc.org; both with National Right to Life Committee

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2012 /Standard Newswire/ -- Press reports of a shocking crime highlight the fact that unborn children in the nation's capital currently have absolutely no legal right to life at any moment prior to birth.
 
According to multiple press reports, an unnamed woman, about eight months pregnant, was asleep in her Southeast Washington apartment at about 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 22, when an unknown assailant entered her room and stabbed her in the abdomen.  Taken to a local hospital, a son, Kuron Rashad Hunt, "was delivered and was later pronounced dead," according to a press release issued by the Metropolitan Police Department.  Kuron's mother survived.  It is unclear from these reports whether Kuron was born alive, which apparently will be determined by an autopsy that will be performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
 
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), offered the following comments:
 
"This case provides another demonstration that in our nation's capital, an unborn child has absolutely no right to life at any moment prior to birth.  In the eyes of current local law, nobody died in this crime -- not unless prosecutors can prove that Kuron Rashad Hunt was born alive before he died.  Under current D.C. law, the unborn child is a complete legal non-entity, even during the final months of pre-natal development."
 
Under the laws of 36 states -- including Virginia and Maryland -- the death of a baby under the circumstances reported would be regarded as a homicide, whether or not the baby was born alive.  A 2004 federal law, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, incorporates the same "two victim" principle, but it applies only to federal crimes.

"The District has no fetal homicide law because such laws are vehemently opposed by the pro-abortion lobby, with which the mayor and District Council are in lock-step," Johnson said.  "The District has no fetal homicide law for the same reason that abortion is allowed for any reason right up to the moment of birth in the District.  District law is consistent -- consistent in refusing to protect the right to life of an unborn child at any moment prior to birth, either from abortionists or from knife-wielding home invaders.  This situation likely will endure until Congress exercises its constitutional responsibility to protect innocent human life within the Federal District."
 
One area abortionist maintains a website on which he touts his supposed expertise in performing abortions to about the beginning of the eighth month -- the same stage of development as Kuron Rashad Hunt had reached, if press reports are accurate.  Under current District law, there is nothing to prevent this abortionist or others from killing such babies up to the moment of birth.
 
A bill introduced in Congress in January, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 3803, S. 2103), would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks fetal age (about the beginning of the sixth month), except when the mother's life is endangered.  The legislation currently has 154 cosponsors in the House and six in the Senate.  Five states already have enacted such laws, which are based on legislative recognition of the capacity of the unborn child to experience pain by 20 weeks fetal age.
 
The National Right to Life Committee, based in the District of Columbia, is the national federation of state right-to-life organizations, dedicated to defending the right to life of innocent human beings from conception to natural death.