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House advances revised criminal-homicide bill; sponsor narrows mental‑state language amid heated questioning
Summary
Representative Carl Wimmer's HB462, intended to supersede HB12, removes 'reckless' as a mental state and narrows criminal liability related to harm to an unborn child; the House passed the bill after extended floor debate over prosecutorial scope and unintended consequences.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House passed HB462 after extended debate over whether the measure would criminalize conduct by pregnant women or focus narrowly on third‑party violence leading to the death of an unborn child.
Representative Carl Wimmer, the sponsor, said HB462 is designed to supersede an earlier measure (HB12) and to remove a 'reckless' mental‑state standard that had generated controversy. "The rumor that this bill allowed women to be prosecuted for miscarriage, which was an absolute farce and really a misreading of this bill," Wimmer told the chamber, saying the revised language raises the threshold for culpability to knowing or intentional conduct.
Opponents pressed…
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