Congress passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Bill. Tena at Atrios gets it right:

It takes another huge bite out of the right to choose, and is a set-up for the Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade. They never rest.

The bill was pushed to passage after the death of Laci Peterson and her unborn child. It's even referred to as the "Laci and Connor law." Legislation should never be passed in response to a singular event, no matter how horrific. Act in haste, repent at leisure. It's a bad law, and now we have to live with it.

Update: The LA Times calls the law "a ploy in the abortion war."

DeWine's bill cynically capitalizes on Laci Peterson's murder to push his definition of personhood into federal law.

Here's how the bill defines a "child in utero":

Introduced by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), the proposed Unborn Victims of Violence Act defines "a child … in utero" as "a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb." In other words, the child exists from the moment of conception. The House passed similar legislation last month. As with nearly every aspect of the abortion debate, Americans are deeply divided on when human life begins. However, courts and most states generally accord more rights to a fetus considered viable outside the womb.