Democrats reject Colorado GOP fetal homicide bill

Democrats rejected a Republican measure to create a new crime of fetal homicide in response to an attack last month on a pregnant woman in Longmont.

Democrats who rejected the bill on a 6-5 party-line vote Monday said the measure’s language could be broadly interpreted to infringe on reproductive rights because legal protections would be extended to unborn children.

The bill was inspired by the case of a woman accused of cutting into the belly of an expectant mother to claim the baby. The expectant mother survived, but her child died.

Current Colorado law includes a crime of unlawfully terminating a pregnancy. But murder charges can’t be brought in such cases because the baby isn’t born. Republicans argue that’s unjust.

The bill had cleared the GOP-controlled Senate with unanimous opposition from Democrats.