Mother: Bill to protect pregnant women misses mark

A Vermont woman whose unborn twins were killed in a car wreck says a bill being proposed in Montpelier to protect pregnant women misses the mark.

Patricia Blair of Bennington was riding in a car with her husband and two young boys when they were hit by a woman who police say was driving under the influence of drugs. Blair and her family were injured, but she was also six months pregnant with twins and they were killed.

She then learned that the young woman driving the other car could not be prosecuted for causing the death of the unborn twins under Vermont law.

In response, Senator Dick Sears of Bennington County has introduced a bill that would create special protections for a pregnant woman from violent assaults. But Sears' proposed bill will still not permit prosecution of motorists like the young woman accused of killing Blair's unborn twins. Blair says that means Sears' proposal simply doesn't go far enough.

"I think that the child needs to have their own protection," Blair said. "We're not asking to re-write the books on the abortion laws. Abortion's about choice. What choice did I have over my child? We're just asking for a little leaf of protection to cover these children that are already coming."

Sears says his bill is a compromise that goes further than pro-choicers want to go. The Democrat says the ACLU and Planned Parenthood don't want him to introduce anything on the subject.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Vince Illuzzi is proposing his own bill that would make it a crime to kill an unborn child in situations other than abortions.

(Edit:Ruby)