WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - Pro-abortion Democratic Senators on Wednesday criticized a proposed bill that would extend legal protection to unborn children who are the victims of violent crimes.

    In Senate hearings, critics said the bill is an election-year attempt to infringe on the rights granted by the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand and stripped the unborn child of rights. But supporters said the measure would bring the federal government in line with states and unify conflicting laws. Twenty-four states already have laws protecting unborn children from violent crimes and would allow prosecutors to bring murder charges in cases of violence where a baby dies, even if his mother survives.

    The bill, which passed the House in September, would not apply to abortions performed with the mother's consent.

    Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, denied any intent to make the legislation about abortion, but acknowledged that it was a hot-button issue. "The only opposition that I can suppose is that some in the pro-choice movement believe that our bill draws attention to the effort to dehumanize, desensitize, and depersonalize the unborn child," he said.

    Eleanor D. Acheson, an assistant attorney general, said the Justice Department would recommend President Clinton veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. She said its "identification of a fetus as a separate and distinct victim of crime is unprecedented as a matter of federal statute."