NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1383

Senate Bill S1383

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Provides that either a person or an unborn child in any stage of gestation may be the victim of an assault

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to codes
Jan 14, 2019	referred to codes

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2019-S1383 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3130
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Add §§120.75 & 120.80, amd §§125.00 & 125.05, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S4897, A2034
2011-2012: S4347, A1673
2013-2014: S1950, A3128
2015-2016: S2532, A6502
2017-2018: S3830, A3579
2021-2022: S2669, A5729
2023-2024: S5308

2019-S1383 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that either a person or an unborn child in any stage of gestation may be the victim of an assault or homicide; also states situations when it does not constitute an assault on an unborn child such as during the course of an otherwise lawful abortion, during normal medical treatment or by the pregnant woman; defines "person" to include any human being who is born and is alive or an unborn child at any stage of gestation.

2019-S1383 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1383

SPONSOR: RITCHIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the unborn victims of
violence act

 
PURPOSE:

To provide the tools necessary to bring justice to those who commit acts
of violence against mothers and their unborn children.

 
SUMMARY:

Section 1 outlines the legislative intent.

Section 2 gives this bill the short title: "unborn victims of violence
act"

Section 3 adds new sections 120.75 and 120.80 to the penal law.

Section 120.75 to Penal Law establishes the definition of "person"
applicable to the sections addressing assault in the third degree,
assault in the second degree, assault in the first degree, vehicular
assault in the second degree, vehicular assault in the first degree,
gang assault in the second degree, gang assault in the first degree, and
aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old. The new
definition adds an unborn child at any stage of gestation.

Section 120.60, for purposes of Article 120 of the Penal Law, exempts
from prosecution individuals performing consensual and justifiable
abortions, individuals treating the mother or child medically, and moth-
ers (other than mothers performing self abortions).

Section 4 redefines "homicide" under section 125.00 of the Penal Law to
include conduct which causes death to an unborn child at any stage of
gestation, to include murder in the first degree, murder in the second
degree, vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, and vehicular
manslaughter in the second degree. Section 4 also states for purposes of
Article 125.00 of the Penal Law, an exemption from prosecution for indi-
viduals performing consensual and justifiable abortions, individuals
treating the mother or child medically, and mothers (other than mothers
performing self abortions).

Section 5 amends the definition provided by section 125.05 of the Penal
Law for "person," when referring to the victim of a homicide, an unborn
child at any stage of gestation.

Section 6 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found that the pregnancy-associated homicide
ratio was 1.7 per 100,000 live births in the United States between 1991
and 1999. Twenty percent of the deaths of pregnant women are caused by
homicide making it the leading cause of death among pregnant women

outside medical complications.  When murderers knowingly attack pregnant
women, they knowingly target more than the mother's life.

The Article of the New York Penal Law that deals with homicide,
abortion, and related offenses currently defines "person" as a human
being who has been born alive and "homicide" as causing the death of a
person or unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more
than twenty-four weeks. These two definitions have left it impossible
for prosecutors and the courts to use the full extent of the law to
punish those who viciously and knowingly take the life of an unborn
child and/or its mother. This bill empowers New York's prosecutors to
seek justice for those who deliberately attack mothers and murder their
unborn children by changing the definitions of "person" and "homicide"
to include unborn children at any stage of gestation.

As is outlined in the bill's first section, the intent of this legis-
lation is to close the loophole for killers of unborn children.  It is
not the intent of this legislation to stifle a woman's right to a
consensual abortion or to medical treatment. As such, the bill specif-
ically provides protections for mothers consenting to an abortion and to
doctors who treat pregnant women.

If we are to claim that we have a justice system that is truly just, it
is paramount that New York State joins the thirty-one states that are
now providing protections and justice for pregnant women and their
unborn children who are victims of violence. By enacting this legis-
lation we send a clear message to perpetrators of violence against preg-
nant women and unborn children that we are serious about protecting New
York's mothers.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.3830 of 2017-18 - Referred to Codes
S.2531 of 2016 - Referred to Codes
S.1950 of 2014 - Referred to Codes
S.1950 of 2013 - Referred to Codes
S.4347 of 2012 - Referred to Codes
S.4347 of 2011 - Referred to Codes
S.4897 of 2010 - Referred to Codes
S.4897 of 2009 - Referred to Codes
S.3117 of 2008 - Referred to Codes
S.3117 of 2007 - Referred to Codes
S.2515A of 2006 - Referred to Codes
S.2515 of 2005 - Referred to Codes
S.403 of 2004 - Referred to Codes
S.403 of 2003 - Passed Senate
S.57B of 2002 - Passed Senate

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become law.

2019-S1383 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1383
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. RITCHIE, BOYLE, LANZA, O'MARA, ORTT, YOUNG -- read
   twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
   Committee on Codes
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  penal law, in relation to the unborn victims of
   violence act
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.    Legislative  intent.   The legislature hereby finds and
 declares that a  significant  loophole  exists  in  state  law,  denying
 protection to pregnant women and certain children.  Currently, an offen-
 der  may  not  be  held  criminally responsible for the harm caused to a
 child unless that child has first been born alive.  Therefore, an assai-
 lant who shoots a woman who is seven months pregnant, and kills both the
 woman and her child, may only be charged with the homicide of the mother
 since the infant is not considered a legal victim of the crime.
   New York state policy lags behind most states in this  area  of  crime
 victims'  protection.    Thirty-one  states  now  provide protection and
 justice for pregnant women and their unborn children who are victims  of
 violence.
   The  legislature  further  finds  and declares that current statistics
 demonstrate that domestic abuse and  violence  against  women  increases
 during pregnancy.  It is estimated that one in five women will be abused
 during  pregnancy.  A study in the Journal of the American Medical Asso-
 ciation found that in the state of Maryland, a pregnant  woman  is  more
 likely  to  be  a  victim  of a homicide than to die of any other cause.
 Thus, rather than pregnancy being a peaceful time of preparation and the
 growth of a healthy child, for many women it can be a time of  violence,
 grief and loss.
   Compounding  this tragedy is the loophole in current law, which denies
 effective protection and remedy to women and their  children.    When  a
 woman makes a conscious choice to keep her baby and has the choice viol-

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD00203-01-9

 S. 1383                             2
 
 ently taken away from her by a violent perpetrator, justice demands that
 someone  be  punished  for that crime.   Indeed, mothers will bury their
 baby's body and mark the grave for their child for  the  rest  of  their
 lives, but New York law tells them their loved one never existed.
   The  legislature  does not intend this act to apply to any abortion to
 which a woman has consented, to any act of the mother herself or to  any
 form of medical treatment.  The legislature finds that the current legal
 right  to abortion does not protect and does not confer on an assailant,
 a third-party unilateral right to destroy an unborn child.
   The legislature recognizes that a federal "unborn victims of violence"
 law was enacted in 2004, yet believes the law to be limited in  applying
 only to unborn children injured or killed during the course of specified
 federal crimes of violence.
   It  is  the  intent of the legislature that the affirmative right of a
 pregnant woman to carry her child to term be protected, and that  perpe-
 trators  of  crimes  against pregnant women and their unborn children be
 held accountable for their crimes.
   § 2. Short title.  This act shall be known as and may be cited as  the
 "unborn victims of violence act".
   §  3.  The  penal law is amended by adding two new sections 120.75 and
 120.80 to read as follows:
 § 120.75 ASSAULT AND RELATED OFFENSES; DEFINITION.
   THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION IS APPLICABLE  TO  SECTIONS  120.00,  120.03,
 120.04, 120.05, 120.06, 120.07, 120.10 AND 120.12 OF THIS ARTICLE:
   "PERSON,"  WHEN  REFERRING  TO  THE  VICTIM OF ANY ASSAULT, AGGRAVATED
 ASSAULT OR VEHICULAR ASSAULT, MEANS A HUMAN BEING WHO HAS BEEN BORN  AND
 IS ALIVE, OR AN UNBORN CHILD AT ANY STAGE OF GESTATION.
 § 120.80 ASSAULT AND RELATED OFFENSES; DEFINED.
   NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO PERMIT THE PROSECUTION:
   1.  OF ANY PERSON FOR CONDUCT RELATING TO A JUSTIFIABLE ABORTIONAL ACT
 FOR WHICH THE CONSENT OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN HAS BEEN OBTAINED;
   2. OF ANY PERSON FOR ANY MEDICAL TREATMENT OF THE  PREGNANT  WOMAN  OR
 HER UNBORN CHILD; OR
   3.  OF ANY WOMAN WITH RESPECT TO HER UNBORN CHILD EXCEPT A PROSECUTION
 FOR VIOLATING SECTION 125.50 OR 125.55 OF THIS TITLE.
   § 4. Section 125.00 of the penal law is amended to read as follows:
 § 125.00  Homicide defined.
   1. Homicide means conduct which causes the death of  a  person  or  an
 unborn  child [with which a female has been pregnant for more than twen-
 ty-four weeks] AT ANY STAGE OF GESTATION under circumstances  constitut-
 ing murder IN THE FIRST DEGREE, MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE, manslaught-
 er  in  the  first  degree, manslaughter in the second degree, VEHICULAR
 MANSLAUGHTER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER IN  THE  SECOND
 DEGREE OR criminally negligent homicide, abortion in the first degree or
 self-abortion in the first degree.
   2.  NOTHING  IN  THIS  ARTICLE SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO PERMIT THE PROSE-
 CUTION:
   (A) OF ANY PERSON FOR CONDUCT RELATING TO A JUSTIFIABLE ABORTIONAL ACT
 FOR WHICH THE CONSENT OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN OR A  PERSON  AUTHORIZED  BY
 LAW TO ACT ON HER BEHALF, HAS BEEN OBTAINED OR FOR WHICH SUCH CONSENT IS
 IMPLIED BY LAW;
   (B) OF ANY PERSON FOR ANY MEDICAL TREATMENT OF A PREGNANT WOMAN OR HER
 UNBORN CHILD; OR
   (C) OF ANY WOMAN WITH RESPECT TO HER UNBORN CHILD EXCEPT A PROSECUTION
 FOR VIOLATING SECTION 125.50 OR 125.55 OF THIS ARTICLE.

 S. 1383                             3
 
   §  5.  Subdivision  1 of section 125.05 of the penal law is amended to
 read as follows:
   1.    "Person,"  when  referring  to the victim of a homicide, means a
 human being who has been born and is alive OR AN  UNBORN  CHILD  AT  ANY
 STAGE OF GESTATION.
   § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

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