Ed Wood "The Right Stuff" Published May 14, 2003

Laci Peterson, and son Conner

By now most of us know the end to this gruesome story. Laci Peterson was a beautiful, young mother-to-be, eight and a half months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve. Her dismembered body subsequently washed ashore in San Francisco Bay, with her unborn child, already named Conner, some 100 yards away. The umbilical was still attached. Her husband, Scott, who left plenty of evidence behind, has been arrested and charged with the crime. No, he has been charged with the crimes. Two of them. The murder of both Laci and Conner. And therein lies the story.

Under California law, murder charges can be brought in the death of an unborn, if the fetus is older than seven weeks. Conner was 32 weeks old at the time of his mother's disappearance. Seems pretty straightforward - both dead as a result of the father's alleged act. But then The National Organization for Women (NOW) got into the act. Remember, their position is that there is no life until birth, which is their justification for performing abortions, even partial-birth abortions in which the infant is killed as it is being removed from the birth canal.

As this horrible incident was initially reported, the Associated Press quoted District Attorney James Brazelton, "I feel pretty strongly it is Peterson. It's too much of a coincidence to have a female and a baby found close to each other a day apart, and no others were reported missing." But only two days later, political correctness had set in, and the AP reported the discovery of a "male fetus," and the press was well on the way to the term preferred by abortion supporters, an "unviable tissue mass."

So why the change in terminology, and why the subsequent move to drop the charge of Conner's murder against Scott Peterson, his father? The issue was made pretty clear by Marva Stark, president of the New Jersey Chapter of NOW. "If this (the baby's death) is murder, well, then any time a late-term fetus is aborted, they could call it murder."

Hmmm. She does have a point, doesn't she?

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Ed Wood is a resident of Sparta, TN. His column is published each Wednesday in the Crossville Chronicle. He can be contacted at edwd@blomand.net