Panel OKs amended fetus death bill

CARSON CITY -- A Nevada Senate panel voted Thursday for an amended bill dealing with criminal charges when a fetus is killed.

Under current law, a person who willfully kills an "unborn quick child" can be charged with felony manslaughter. The sponsor of SB299, Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, said that law isn't good enough because there are cases it doesn't cover.

Hardy said the existing law didn't apply to a constituent who miscarried after being injured by a drunken driver who hit her car. The offender was charged with a DUI with substantial bodily harm, a felony. But Hardy said it was an insufficient punishment.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-2 to pass an amended version that would allow a person who kills a fetus during the commission of a crime to be charged whether the fetus's death was willful or not.