Bush Ad Blasts John Kerry for Opposing Bill on Violence, Pregnant Women
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 9, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Bush campaign is airing a new television commercial blasting presidential candidate John Kerry for opposing a bill that would offer additional legal protection for pregnant women who are victims of violent assaults.
Earlier this year, Senator Kerry voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a bill that allows prosecutors to charge criminals with an additional crime when they attack a pregnant woman and kill or injure her unborn baby.
The issue of violence against pregnant women is again receiving national attention thanks to the Scott Peterson double murder trial. Peterson is charged with the deaths of Laci and Conner Peterson, wife and eight-month-old unborn child.
The Bush ad criticizes Kerry for missing two-thirds of the Senate votes while on the campaign trail this year, but going to Washington to vote against the unborn victims bill, also known as Laci and Conner’s law.
"Yet, Kerry found time to vote against the Laci Peterson law that protects pregnant women from violence,” the ad says. "Kerry has his priorities. Are they yours?”
The ad is scheduled to run on national cable television outlets as well as in local media markets in 19 states, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Kerry campaign has responded with a six-page rebuttal showing other Kerry votes and his record as a prosecutor.
But Sharon Rocha, Laci Peterson’s mother, and Laci’s family strongly supported the legislation. They took Kerry to task in a letter for opposing the bill.
Serrin Foster, the president of Feminists for Life, agrees and tells LifeNews.com, "It is hard for me to understand how anyone could not in good conscience support Laci and Connor’s Law — especially those who say that they want to protect women."
"This what separates abortion advocates from women’s advocates," Foster added.
The measure passed by a bipartisan 61 to 38 margin in the Senate, and by an equally strong majority in the House. Public opinion polls found strong support for the bill, with more than 70 percent of Americans saying such a law is needed.
Laci Peterson was discovered missing in December 2002 and the bodies of her and her unborn son Conner washed up on the shores of the San Francisco Bay in April 2003.
Bush signed the anti-violence bill into law in April, and was surrounded by family members from other states where pregnant women have been attacked.
Rocha and Ron Grantski, Laci’s stepfather, also attended the ceremony.
Related web sites:
See the ad at: https://www.georgewbush.com or mms://media4.streamtoyou.com/gwb/priorities_256k.wmv
