Denver, Colorado — A mother in Colorado whose unborn nine-month-old son died in utero when a drunk driver slammed into her car is seeking to place an initiative on the 2014 state ballot that would recognize unborn children as persons under the law.
Currently, the state of Colorado, like 22 other states in the nation, does not have a fetal homicide statute on the books criminalizing those who commit the unsolicited murder of the unborn. As previously reported, Jeremy Stodghill, a father of twins who died at the hospital when their mother collapsed from blockage to her lung, has been fighting in the courts to obtain retribution for the deaths of his wife and sons, but has faced obstacles as the Catholic healthcare group named in the lawsuit argues that a fetus is not a person.
Another Colorado resident, Heather Surovik, is likewise disturbed at the lack of recognition of the unborn as persons as the drunk driver that took the life of her nine-month-old son will not be charged with his death. Surovik appeared before the Colorado House of Representatives last week to share her story and to advocate for a fetal homicide bill presented by Representative Janak Joshi. However, Democrats struck down the bill, and abortion advocates fired back at Surovik, claiming that she had only lost a pregnancy and that she and Joshi were foolish in trying to “protect human eggs.”
“Their comments were hurtful. I couldn’t keep myself from crying,” Surovik said following the hearing. “I testified about my son’s life, the car accident and the repeat DUI offender who took him from me, and in response, I was told that [my son’s] life didn’t matter. While the Fraternal Order of Police and the Colorado District Attorney’s Council endorsed this bill, Planned Parenthood and House Democrats seemed pleased to defeat the bill that would have meant justice for victims of violent crimes.”
Therefore, she decided to file a ballot initiative with the state so that the people could decide the matter during the next election and bypass the actions of the legislators.
It was in July of last year that Surovick was heading home from her final prenatal appointment when she was struck by a drunk driver — who had been charged with DUI four other times. When she woke up in the hospital hours later, Surovick was informed that her son Brady, who was days from being born, weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 0unces, died in the accident.
“Shortly after I woke up, my mom and my dad and my sister were there, and they told me that I had lost Brady,” she recalls tearfully. “All I could do is sit there and cry.”
“I remember my mom grabbing my hand and saying that it was going to be okay; that we’re going to go through this together,” Surovik continued. “And my dad started crying and told me that he was really sorry that this had happened, and he wished he could turn back the hands of time and bring Brady back to us.”
However, she was shocked when she found out that the man that had taken the life of her son could not be held accountable for his death.
“On top of the death of my son [and] planning his funeral, I find out that the man responsible for taking Brady — the death of Brady — is not being charged with it because the law says that Brady was not a person,” Surovik said. “Just because he didn’t take a breath, they say that Brady isn’t a person.”
As part of The Brady Project, named after her son, Surovik is seeking to enshrine the right to criminal justice for babies just like Brady. If her amendment is approved, she and others plan on collecting signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. Personhood USA is working with the Surovik family to help make it happen.
“Please, please, please be a voice for all the countless babies out there,” Surovik states in an online video created for the project. “And please be Brady’s voice.”
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