10 U.S.C. § 919a | Art. 119a. Death or injury of an unborn child

(a)

(1)

section 1365 of title 18 Any person subject to this chapter who engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law listed in subsection (b) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury (as defined in ) to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section and shall, upon conviction, be punished by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct, which shall be consistent with the punishments prescribed by the President for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child’s mother.

(2)

An offense under this section does not require proof that—

(i)

the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or

(ii)

the accused intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child.

(3)

If the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall, instead of being punished under paragraph (1), be punished as provided under sections 880, 918, and 919(a) of this title (articles 80, 118, and 119(a)) for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.

(4)

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the death penalty shall not be imposed for an offense under this section.

(b)

The provisions referred to in subsection (a) are sections 918, 919(a), 919(b)(2), 920(a), 922, 926, 928, and 928a of this title (articles 118, 119(a), 119(b)(2), 120(a), 122, 126, 128, and 128a).

(c)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the prosecution—

(1)

of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law;

(2)

of any person for any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or

(3)

of any woman with respect to her unborn child.

(d)

In this section, the term “unborn child” means a child in utero, and the term “child in utero” or “child, who is in utero” means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.

Pub. L. 108–212, § 3(a)Apr. 1, 2004118 Stat. 569 Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LX, § 5401(13)(B)Dec. 23, 2016130 Stat. 2939 Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(c)(1)(N)Dec. 12, 2017131 Stat. 1598(Added , , ; amended , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 115–912017—Subsec. (b). substituted “926, 928, and 928a” for “928a, 926, and 928” and “126, 128, and 128a” for “128a 126, and 128”.

Pub. L. 114–3282016—Subsec. (b). substituted “928a,” for “924,” and “128a” for “124,”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2017 Amendment

Pub. L. 115–91 Pub. L. 114–328 10 U.S.C. 801 section 1081(c)(4) of Pub. L. 115–91 section 801 of this titleAmendment by effective immediately after the amendments made by div. E (§§ 5001–5542) of take effect as provided for in section 5542 of that Act ( note), see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 2016 Amendment

Pub. L. 114–328Jan. 1, 2019section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328 section 801 of this titleAmendment by effective on , as designated by the President, with implementing regulations and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under .