Unborn children; defined from the moment of fertilization for purposes of certain criminal prosecution, prosecutions for murder and assault of unborn child authorized and further provided for, defense of duress authorized for woman charged with death of her own child

HB 518, the Prenatal Equal Protection Act, changes Alabama criminal law to define an "unborn child" as a person from the moment of fertilization, enabling homicide or assault charges for harm to an unborn child at any developmental stage. It removes exemptions that previously protected medical providers from prosecution for fetal death caused by lawful medical care or medication, and deletes the prohibition against prosecuting women for harm to their own unborn child. The bill allows "duress" as a defense for mothers facing charges related to their unborn child's death, while requiring such cases to be treated identically to cases involving a born child. Exceptions include spontaneous miscarriages and medical procedures taken to save the mother's life with reasonable efforts to save the unborn child. The bill is pending in the House Health Committee.