The Forgotten Victim of the Ft. Hood Massacre

News coverage of the massacre at Ft. Hood, Texas last Thursday consistently refers to the number of people who were murdered as 13. The same holds true for the opinions and commentaries expressed by various groups and organizations active in pro-family causes.

What a shame that, unless we have missed something, all of them have ignored the fact that there was a 14th victim—the unborn child of Pvt. Francheska Velez, age 21, who was three months pregnant when she was gunned down by Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

In 2004, the Congress enacted Public Law 108-212 “The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004,” a.k.a. Laci and Conner’s Law, recognizing that an unborn embryo or fetus can be a legal victim if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of a federal crime of violence.

The bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 254-163 on February 26, 2004 and in the Senate by a vote of 61-38 on March 25, 2004. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 1, 2004.

Pro-life and pro-family groups led citizens across America in the effort to support enactment of that legislation. At the time, it was considered and still remains an important step that at last recognized the humanity of the child in the womb.

Yet, with the exception of Michelle Malkin’s mention of it last night on Sean Hannity’s program, there has been virtually no mention that there were 14 victims including the baby in his mother’s womb at Ft. Hood. How is it that he has been forgotten.

14 people were killed at Ft. Hood. Let us mourn them all.

National Coalition for Life