In January, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act was reintroduced by Republican Sen. Serphin R. Maltese of Queens, (Companion bill: A5777.) Sen. Joe Robach, R-Greece, is a co-sponsor.

This bill's stated intent is "that the affirmative right of the pregnant woman to carry her child to term be protected, and that perpetrators of crimes against pregnant women and their unborn children be held accountable." It confers legal personhood on "an unborn child at any stage of gestation" in order to create a second victim.

Thirty-one states already have some language conferring personhood on a viable fetus, 10 of them as extreme as this bill.

What of other existing laws? In New York, homicide is already defined as "conduct which causes the death of a person or an unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more than 24 weeks."

According to a U.S. Justice Department report, violence against women has remained constant. The leading cause of death among pregnant women is murder, and women who are abused while pregnant are more likely to have been abused before and after pregnancy. High visibility cases of violence against pregnant women show that if a perpetrator is identified and pursued, current laws are capable of meting out justice.

State Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, has stated, "the real mission of such legislation is to undermine women's right to choice, by giving legal status to the unborn, undermining the recognized and established legal basis for Roe v. Wade."

This bill isn't just bad news for abortion rights or civil rights activists. It is very bad news for birthing women. Dr. Frank Chervenak, director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, used just such personhood language on Good Morning America (Jan. 8): "The few hours of labor are the most dangerous time during the entire lifetime of that soon to be born child. Because of this, I would argue, all soon to be born children have a right to access to immediate Caesarean delivery and women who insist on denying this right are irresponsible."

Never mind informed consent and informed refusal. Forget the mother's right to privacy, autonomy and bodily integrity. Full personhood of the unborn pits pregnant women's human and civil rights against their own babies' "rights" in every situation that third parties might seek to interject themselves.

Obstetricians, making value judgments about a mother's lifestyle or parenting ability sometimes involve the courts even before the baby is born to enforce their own judgment against the mother's decisions. Doctor-patient conflicts are conveyed to a judge as mother-baby conflicts, from which the baby must be "rescued." Never mind that what is good for the mother is invariably good for the baby and the rest of the family as well.

A prime example is when a woman who has given birth surgically requests that a subsequent birth be vaginal. Vaginal birth after Caesarean section had become an accepted option for over two decades, but the current trend, quite without basis in research, has swung back toward "once a Caesarean always a Caesarean." There have been instances across the country where hospital administrators have obtained court orders requiring that the mother submit to the surgery.

Someday, mothers may face charges for making otherwise legal decisions that the larger society disagrees with such as home birth, smoking or alcohol use.

In the novel A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, women become slaves if they can bear children. This bill would make that a reality.

Powell, a member of the Rochester school board, is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for the 56th District state Senate seat now held by Republican Joseph Robach.