A bill filed Wednesday would increase the penalty for injuring a pregnant woman.
Sen. Doug Berger, a pro-choice Democrat, and Rep. Dale Folwell, a pro-life Republican, are working together on the legislation, which would make it a separate felony charge to injure a woman who is more than five months pregnant.
"Currently, the penalties for that offense are inconsequential," Berger said.
He said he wanted to punish men who have "an interest in avoiding child support payments" and take away the choice of a woman to bear the child.
Berger said he was hopeful about the bill's chances because it was co-sponsored by a progressive and a conservative on opposite sides of the abortion issue, but so far he's heard only negative feedback from both sides of the perennial debate.
"Neither (Folwell) nor I see this as an abortion issue," he said. "We're not going to allow this to be turned into an abortion issue."
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