The Senate approved legislation on Thursday making it a separate offense to harm the fetus in a federal crime committed against a pregnant woman, sending the measure to President Bush for his signature. Opponents denounced the bill, adopted on a vote of 61 to 38, as an effort to undermine the constitutional right to abortion by recognizing the fetus as a person.
Last November, Mr. Bush signed into law a ban on the procedure that critics call partial-birth abortion. He strongly supported the latest legislation, referred to as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
In a statement issued Thursday night Mr. Bush said, “Pregnant women who have been harmed by violence, and their families, know that there are two victims
