From: TN Right to Life...
While police continue searching for their killer, the recent murders of Brittany Caroline Eldridge and her unborn child
could be the first cases prosecuted under Tennessee's recently expanded
Unborn Victims of Violence Act. As passed in May, HB 498 / SB 633
establishes that unborn children at any age of gestational development
may be legally considered victims of assault or homicide. Previous
Tennessee statute only recognized unborn victims after the age of
viability, generally considered to be 24-25 weeks.
Local newspaper accounts had reported that the Knox County District Attorney's office was "waiting
on an autopsy to verify whether or not the infant was viable in order
to ascertain if there would be one or two homicide prosecutions."
Tennessee's new law, however, is very plain and specifically states that when a defendant "commits
a homicide or assault against a pregnant woman, the woman's fetus,
regardless of viability, is also considered a victim of the offense."
Sponsored by Rep. Joshua Evans (R-Greenbrier) and Sen. Mae Beavers
(R-Mt Juliet), the policy change was signed into law by Governor Haslam
and took effect on July 1 as Public Chapter 408. As such, Tennessee
joined 26 other states which define the killing of an unborn child at
any stage of gestation as a form of homicide.
Studies conducted about violence against pregnant women including those conducted in Maryland, Illinois and New York found that homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.
The growing violence against pregnant women prompted Tennessee
legislators to consider the legislation that would recognize the lives
of unborn children assaulted or killed in the commission of a crime as
well as that of the mother.
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