Wyoming gubernatorial candidate Ray Hunkins (R) on Wednesday said he anticipates the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn its ruling in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case -- which effectively barred state abortion bans -- adding that if such a ruling is made, he will seek to ban abortions in the state except in cases protecting the health of pregnant women, the AP/Casper Star Tribune reports.
"I believe that abortion is murder, the homicide of a human being," Hunkins said, adding that he would call for a reinstatement of Wyoming's ban on abortion prior to 1973. Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D), who is running for re-election, said he does not support changes to the state's abortion-rights laws.
According to the AP/Tribune, voters in 1994 rejected a state referendum that would have banned abortions in most cases (Neary, AP/Casper Star Tribune, 10/18).
Hunkins also said he will call for legislation that would mandate a prison sentence of at least 25 years for a person who knowingly assaults a pregnant woman and causes the involuntary loss of her fetus, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports.
"The deliberate killing of an unborn child by battery on the pregnant woman should be considered homicide," Hunkins said.
Freudenthal said current law mandates a prison sentence of up to 10 years for such convictions, adding, "It may be entirely appropriate to increase the penalty and make it a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years" (Wingert, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, 10/18).