Earlier today, I posted a comment on the use of the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA) in a Tampa, Florida, case. Since then I have been alerted by Doug Johnson (National Right to Life) to an article he posted that contains a great deal of additional information about the application of the UVVA and the facts of the Welden case. It is worth reading.
It turns out that charges have been brought under the UVVA on two occasions. The first involved a 2010 New Mexico case in which the UVVA-based charge was dropped after Frederick Beach pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge for killing a pregnant woman on an Indian reservation. The second case took place in the military justice system when an Air Force enlisted man, Scott D. Boie, surreptitiously gave his pregnant wife misoprostol. He was convicted of the UVVA-based crime. Boie’s appeal has been rejected, and he is serving is 9 ½-year sentence for the UVVA offense and other crimes.
Apparently, Florida’s fetal homicide law is even worse than I thought (see this NRLC website): its quickening provision defines the term “unborn quick child” to mean a “viable fetus.” Triggering a provision such as that would require a gestational age in the early 20-weeks. Remee Lee’s baby was only six or seven weeks along.
