NH Man Charged with Murder in Death of Unborn Child for the First Time in State’s History

New Hampshire has charged someone with murder in the death of an unborn child for the first time in the state’s history.

In 2017, the New Hampshire State Legislature passed a bill defining an unborn child more than 20 weeks old as a person for the purposes of criminal murder prosecution. This measure was later signed into law by Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and took effect in 2018.

William Kelly, age 38, has been charged with two counts second-degree murder — one for allegedly killing Christine Falzone, age 33, and one for allegedly killing her unborn child.

According to NBC News, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Mitchell Weinberg determined that Falzone’s baby was between 35 and 37 weeks old in December at the time of Falzone’s death.

A number of other states have similar laws on the books criminalizing the murder of unborn children, in some instances beginning as early as conception.

Many of these laws contain provisions, however, specifying that they are not to be construed in such a way as to classify abortions conducted within legal limits as murder.

In 2004, the federal government approved its own “fetal homicide” law allowing for the government to press separate charges for the harm done to a pregnant woman and the harm done to an unborn child. According to an NBC News article published at the time, 29 states had similar laws on the books as lawmakers in DC debated this measure.

Some states, however, have gone a step further and passed laws establishing “fetal personhood,” creating more sweeping legal protections for unborn children.

New Hampshire’s Senate Bill 66 modified the state’s criminal code to include unborn children under the definition of “another” for purposes of certain criminal offenses, including murder.

According to contemporaneous reporting, this bill sparked extensive debate in the state legislature, but ultimately passed the House with a vote of 186 to 170. The state Senate had already approved the bill by a vote of 14 to 10 several months prior.

Kelly has several prior criminal convictions and is currently being held without bail, according to New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). Police told NHPR that Kelly’s most recent conviction was for assault in 2019.

Lawyers are awaiting forensic test results and have agreed to schedule a hearing for June with a potential trial date in 2025.

Maine does not currently have any laws on the books explicitly criminalizing the murder of unborn children.