The House on July 25 considered a bill (H.R. 4888) that would make it illegal to carry out a death sentence on a pregnant woman. Sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the Innocent Child Protection Act of 2000 was considered under suspension of the rules, an expedited floor procedure that prohibits amendments and requires a two-thirds majority to pass. The House voted, 417-0, to pass the bill with two Members voting present—Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and John LaFalce (D-NY).
Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, in explaining her bill, said: “What if within the confines of our judicial and penal system a convicted murderer would have the right to kill again. What if, as a result of this legal right, a completely innocent human being to whom no trespass could be attributed was brutally killed. These hypothetical examples could be realized because for the 38 States which impose the death penalty, there is no current law which prohibits the execution of a pregnant woman who carries an innocent, unborn child.”
Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) contended that the legislation “would fulfill the obligations of the United States under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights….Of significance to today’s legislation, article 6 of that covenant provides that a sentence of death shall not be carried out on a pregnant woman.” He further argued that Congress has the authority to enact legislation implementing treaties under article I of the Constitution, even if such legislation interferes with matters of state jurisdiction.
Arguing in opposition to the bill, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) countered: “It has been said that legislative redundancy is a common sin on the House floor but this bill makes that sin unusually self-indulgent. The execution of pregnant women is already illegal under Federal law, and it is doubtful that this Supreme Court would acknowledge our jurisdiction to impose that dictum on State courts.”
Rep. John LaFalce (D-NY) agreed, stating: “I ask my friends to have more respect for the Constitution…my colleagues are talking about State sentences, where the bill before us does not even make one reference to a Federal nexus, where it was introduced a few days ago, where there has been no hearing, my colleagues do violence to the constitutional process. They do violence to the Constitution of the United States.”
