A bill prompted by last summer's shooting of a pregnant Indianapolis bank teller will soon be on its way to Governor Daniels.

The House unanimously approved a bill allowing prosecutors to file charges of feticide for any action, other than legal abortion, which causes the death of a fetus.

Current law allows the charge only when the attacker knows the woman is pregnant. That limited prosecutors' options in the shooting of Katherin Shuffield, who was pregnant with twins when she was seriously wounded during the holdup of a Huntington Bank branch.

The bill also increases the maximum penalty for feticide from eight years to 20. The charge would now carry a minimum prison sentence of six years.

 

The bill passed the Senate 40-9 in February. The Senate must reapprove it to accept some changes in wording made in the House to make sure the bill accomplished its purpose without becoming enmeshed in the politically thorny abortion issue.