Congressman Davis Supports Tough Penalties for Violent Acts Against Pregnant Women

WASHINGTON - U. S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Birmingham) today offered the following statement concerning his vote against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act:

I strongly support increasing criminal penalties and providing for life imprisonment for anyone who would injure a pregnant woman or cause the termination of her pregnancy by violent action. I voted for a substitute bill today that would have accomplished just that result.

However, I voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act because it requires that a fetus be legally classified as a person. Such a classification would quickly lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The choice to sustain or terminate a pregnancy should be a matter for individual women and their conscience and values, rather than a matter that the federal government should dictate.