By DEANNA MARTIN
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Anyone who murders or attempts to murder a pregnant woman and causes the death of her unborn child could face a longer prison term under a bill that won final legislative approval Tuesday.
The bill was inspired by the shooting of an Indianapolis bank teller in April 2008. Katherin Shuffield was five months pregnant when she was wounded in the abdomen during a robbery. She survived, but the twin girls she and her husband were expecting did not.
Current Indiana law allows prosecutors to file murder charges in cases where a fetus dies, but only if the mother is at least seven months pregnant. The state’s feticide law covers fetuses that are not yet viable outside the womb, but supporters of the proposal say that crime’s current sentence of two to eight years is not enough.
Sen. Jim Merritt, a Republican from Indianapolis who sponsored the bill, said the Shuffield case was a tragedy and that the loss of the twin girls needed to be recognized.
“To me, those are living beings,” said Merritt, who is the father of twins.
The proposal would allow six to 20 years of additional prison time for people convicted of attempted murder, murder or felony murder if they cause the loss of a pregnancy. The bill would also increase prison time for feticide to six to 20 years.
Lawmakers wanted to add extra sentences to those crimes — rather than trying to expand the feticide law to cover all stages of pregnancy — to avoid a debate over when life begins. Bill supporters say the proposal would not affect the state’s current abortion laws.
Merritt said he hopes the bill could prevent future incidents like the Shuffield case.
Sen. Lindel Hume, D-Princeton, voted for the bill but doubted that the tougher sentences would make criminals think twice before pulling the trigger.
“They’re going to commit a crime regardless,” Hume said. “They’re not going to weigh one crime against another based on the number of years they might spend in prison.”
The Senate voted 44-2 to give the measure final legislative approval. The proposal now moves to Gov. Mitch Daniels, who can veto the proposal, sign it into law or let it become law without his signature.
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