118 STAT. 568 PUBLIC LAW 108–212—APR. 1, 2004 Public Law 108–212 108th Congress An Act To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice to protect unborn children from assault and murder, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004’’ or ‘‘Laci and Conner’s Law’’. SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN. (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 90 the following: ‘‘CHAPTER 90A—PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN ‘‘Sec. ‘‘1841. Protection of unborn children. ‘‘§ 1841. Protection of unborn children ‘‘(a)(1) Whoever engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law listed in subsection (b) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury (as defined in section 1365) to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section. ‘‘(2)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the punishment for that separate offense is the same as the punishment provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child’s mother. ‘‘(B) An offense under this section does not require proof that— ‘‘(i) the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or ‘‘(ii) the defendant intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child. ‘‘(C) If the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall instead of being punished under subparagraph (A), be punished as provided under sections 1111, 1112, and 1113 of this title for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being. ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the death penalty shall not be imposed for an offense under this section. ‘‘(b) The provisions referred to in subsection (a) are the fol lowing: ‘‘(1) Sections 36, 37, 43, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 229, 242, 245, 247, 248, 351, 831, 844(d), (f), (h)(1), and (i), 924(j), 18 USC 1841 note. Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004. Apr. 1, 2004 [H.R. 1997]
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