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Tuesday, July 07, 2009
New Bill Protects Pregnant Women
approved in the final days of the 2009 legislative session
a new law that increases the penalty for killing a pregnant woman.
House Bill 3505, which carries a life-without-parole sentence
for anyone convicted of killing a pregnant woman, is on its way
to Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s desk this month. The governor’s staff
says he plans to sign the measure into law.
Legislators adopted HB 3505 in the last two weeks of the
session that ended at about 10 p.m. Monday night. It was
the culmination of several days of political wrangling by lawmakers
who had to walk a fine line between supporters of the death
penalty and supporters of abortion rights to get the votes
necessary to send the measure to the governor.
“I thought it was a great compromise,” said state Rep. Jeff Barker,
an Aloha Democrat who co-sponsored HB 3505 with state
Sen. Bruce Starr, a Hillsboro Republican.
“I’m glad we were able to get it done.”
Barker’s bill was an answer to a similar measure – Senate Bill 984
– introduced in mid-June by Starr. That bill went to the Senate and
then was sidetracked by HB 3505.
Both Starr and Barker were shocked by the disturbing June 5
death of Tigard’s Heather Snively, the 21-year-old former Maryland
woman who was about eight months pregnant when she was
brutally murdered in a Cedar Hills home and her body stuffed in a
tiny crawlspace under the house’s living room.
On June 25, the state Senate voted unanimously to approve HB 3505.
The approval came a day after the House adopted the same measure
with only one vote against it.
Barker said the proposal required some compromises and rewrites
to answer concerns by lawmakers who offered to support the
measure, but with some changes.
“Some people didn’t like the death penalty provision in the original bill,
and some thought it got too close to outlawing abortion,” Barker said.
About three dozen states have similar laws making it a crime to
kill a fetus through abuse or assault of a pregnant woman.
In 2004, a federal law was adopted known as the Unborn Victims
of Violence Act that applied to federal criminal cases.
The laws do not address abortion, but focus solely on assault,
murder or manslaughter of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
‘A horrible murder’
Korena E. Roberts, 27, a Marlene Village neighborhood resident,
faces aggravated murder and theft charges in Heather Snively’s death.
Washington County detectives arrested Roberts June 6, a day after
she told doctors at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center that she
had given birth to twins and that only one of the babies had survived.
Doctors became suspicious when they found no evidence that
Roberts had given birth. They alerted Beaverton police and
Washington County sheriff’s deputies after paramedics brought
Roberts and a lifeless baby boy into the hospital’s emergency
room shortly before 3 p.m. Friday, June 5.
Detectives went to Roberts’ home and found Snively’s ashen
and disemboweled body hidden in the crawlspace under a
bloody piece of carpet.
An autopsy determined that Snively had been killed after a powerful
struggle and her unborn son was cut from her body with a sharp
knife or razor. Most of the house – where Snively had apparently
visited hoping to buy baby clothing she had seen
advertised on Craigslist – was soaked in blood.
While interviewing her boyfriend, detectives learned that Roberts
had taken midwife courses at Portland Community College.
Roberts is being held at the Washington County Jail without
bail while she awaits trial. On June 15, Roberts pleaded not
guilty to seven felony charges, including murder, aggravated
murder and first-degree theft. An autopsy was unable to determine
if Snively’s infant son took a breath outside the womb, so Roberts
could not be charged under Oregon law with the child’s murder.
News of Heather Snively’s horrible death helped propel HB 3505,
Barker said. The measure was introduced weeks after a deadline
for new legislation and received quick committee hearings in both
the House and Senate, ensuring its approval.
“It was just such a horrible murder,” Barker said. “So people were
saying that other states had (harsh penalties for killing pregnant women),
so Oregon should have a law, too.”
-Pamplin Media Group
News • Pro-Life Unity • United Calls for Action • States • Maryland • Permalink