NARAL Colorado Not Fans of Bill That Would Criminalize the Murder of a Fetus

The nation was stunned by the vicious assault on Michelle Wilkins, a 26-year-old woman in Colorado whose unborn child was ripped from her womb while she answered a Craigslist ad for baby clothes. Even though her unborn child was killed in the attack, the attacker, Dynel Lane, would not face murder charges as it was uncertain whether or not the infant was alive outside of the womb. People were furious with this development, and a YouGov poll showed that vast majorities of people say that they feel the attack should have been classified as a murder. Colorado's legislature is considering the "Crimes Against Pregnant Women Act," which would allow for murder charges to be filed in a case like the attack on Wilkins.

Apparently the people of NARAL Colorado are not among the 76 percent who think that the attack was more than an assault. Earlier today, they tweeted this:

The bill "Crimes Against Pregnant Women" contains harsh penalties on anyone who ends a pregnancy against mothers wishes #coleg #NoPersonhood
— NARAL Colorado (@NARALColorado) April 20, 2015

Call me crazy, but I'm not seeing how this is exactly a bad thing. Even trying to see the bill from the point of view held by NARAL's employees, I'm at a loss as to how someone could be against a murder charge for someone who literally ripped open a woman's body to extract her baby during an assault. This isn't even close to the same thing as a woman going in for an abortion--this was an assault that resulted in the death of a person.

NARAL Colorado followed up their tweet with this one, which didn't do much to explain their point of view:

#CO doesn’t need "personhood" as SB-268 seeks to create. Our system has tools to punish criminals who attack pregnant women. #NoPersonhood
— NARAL Colorado (@NARALColorado) April 20, 2015

Again, this simply isn't true. Wilkins' infant was seven months along, and had the baby been born in a hospital instead of in a bathtub following a botched Cesarian section, he would probably still be alive today. Despite this life that was snuffed out, Lane won't be charged with murder because Colorado law won't allow this. That's absurd.