What's happening
This bill creates the crime of feticide, making it a class A felony to intentionally cause the death of an unborn child except in legal abortions.
Why it matters
Establishes distinct legal protections for unborn children. By defining "feticide" as the intentional killing of an unborn child at any stage of gestation, the bill creates a separate criminal offense apart from existing homicide laws, signaling a shift in how fetal harm is recognized in the legal system.
Carries severe legal consequences. Classifying feticide as a class A felony—the most serious category under New York law—means those convicted could face lengthy prison sentences, highlighting the gravity with which the state would treat such offenses.
Explicitly carves out exceptions for legal abortions. The bill exempts terminations performed in accordance with established health law, aiming to avoid criminalizing doctors and patients engaged in lawful abortion procedures, but potentially raising questions about other pregnancy-related medical actions.
May impact prosecution and victim rights in violent crimes. The law could enable prosecutors to bring additional charges in cases such as assaults on pregnant women that result in fetal death, potentially increasing penalties for offenders and providing new avenues for justice for affected families.
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Who cares
District attorneys and law enforcement
The bill would create a class A felony for intentionally causing the death of an unborn child at any stage of gestation by terminating a woman's pregnancy, subject to a statutory exception.
Pregnant women
The bill would establish a specific criminal charge for intentionally ending their pregnancies to cause the death of an unborn child.
Abortion providers
Pregnancy terminations performed in accordance with Public Health Law section 2599-bb would be excluded from the proposed feticide offense.
Criminal defense attorneys
Cases under the proposed offense would turn on intent, the termination's resulting death of an unborn child and whether the statutory exception applies.
Headline styles
Make Feticide a Felony
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5621
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of feticide
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 125.24 to read as follows: § 125.24 Feticide.
A person is guilty of feticide when with intent to cause the death of an unborn child at any stage of gestation, he or she causes the termination of a woman's pregnancy resulting in the death of such unborn child at any stage of gestation, except when such termination occurs in accordance with section twenty-five hundred ninety-nine-bb of the public health law.
Feticide is a class A felony.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11571-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to estab- lishing the crime of feticide
Purpose
Relates to establishing the crime of feticide
Summary of provisions
Section one amends the penal law by adding section 125.24 to create the crime of Feticide. Feticide is the termination of one's pregnancy with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child and shall be a Class A felony.
Justification
The recently enacted Reproductive Health Act signed into law in New York repealed the part of the penal code that contained abortion. Immediate- ly after the legislation was signed into law, the unborn child in the mother's womb disturbingly could no longer be considered a victim of a crime. This means that if a woman's pregnancy is ended because of an assault on her unborn baby, the perpetrator cannot be charged with murder. Unfortunately, this hypothetical became a reality on February 5, 2019 when a pregnant woman was stabbed to death outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. The victim was 5 months pregnant with her second child at the time of the attack. Neither the victim nor the unborn baby survived this brutal and senseless attack. Now, under current law established by the Reproductive Health Act, the suspect can only be charged for crimes against the woman, not the unborn baby whose life was also taken. This bill, when enacted would provide justice to the family of any unborn child should they face a similar tragedy like the one that happened in Queens.
Legislative history
None
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.