‘We owe it to Zoe to fight for criminal law change’ to protect the rights of unborn children

AFTER six years of lobbying to have the life of an unborn child killed through a criminal act recognised in law, Brodie Donegan is back to square one — but remains as determined as ever.

AFTER six years of lobbying to have the life of an unborn child killed through a criminal act recognised in law, Brodie Donegan is back to square one.

But with the same gritty determination that saw the then 29-year-old drag herself out of an intensive care bed with a fractured spine and shattered hip to attend her daughter’s funeral, she remains undeterred.

In August 2013, the NSW lower house passed a private member’s bill known as “Zoe’s Law” after it was introduced by former The Entrance state Liberal MP Chris Spence.

Brodie Donegan — pictured with her children Lachlan, 5, Nixon, 11 months and Ashlee, 8 — has lobbied successive governments for changes to the Crimes Act. Picture: Peter Clark

The legislation sought to amend the Crimes Act 1900 to recognise the separate existence of the foetus of a pregnant woman that was of at least 20 weeks’ gestation or had a body mass of 400g.

Essentially, it would enable police to charge an offender with grievous bodily harm following the criminal death of a foetus, irrespective of the injuries sustained by the mother.

It followed Ms Donegan’s own harrowing experience when she was hit by a drug-addled driver at Ourimbah on Christmas Day in 2009.

Her baby Zoe had a heartbeat when she arrived at hospital but was later delivered stillborn.

The driver, Justine Hampson, was sentenced to nine month’s jail for the injuries inflicted on Ms Donegan but was never charged over Zoe’s death because under current laws the baby was seen as little more than an appendage of her mother.

Drug-addled driver Justine Hampson arriving at court in 2010 before she was eventually sentenced to nine month’s jail for negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

The bill was taken to the upper house by Liberal MP Marie Ficarra where it sat undebated for a year until the ICAC cut a swath through Coast Liberal MPs in the wake of the developer contributions scandal, which also claimed Ms Ficarra.

“It’s died since the (state) election,” Ms Donegan, of Mardi, said.

“This Christmas was a bit hard, more because it was on a Friday — the same day as my accident.

“I’m disappointed that while we made a lot of progress and started the conversation about crimes involving unborn children in the previous term of government with Chris Spence, nothing eventuated and we must again begin at the bottom­.”

Happier times; an ultrasound photo of a healthy baby Zoe inside it’s mother Brodie Donegan before she was hit by a car on Christmas Day in 2009.

But she is buoyed by a petition with 93,000 signatures to change the laws in Queensland after 39-week-pregnant mum Sarah Milosevic’s car was hit by a drunk and drugged driver south of Brisbane in August 2014.

“I believe that the current laws must be improved to adequately reflect the loss of the unborn child due to a serious criminal or violent act and acknowledge the impact that has on the entire family, rather than keeping the loss within the mother’s injuries,” Ms Donegan said.