On Wednesday, we learned a subcommittee in the Indiana House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 71, which is sponsored by Senator Allen Paul of Richmond.
Now, the only thing that stands in the path of Drew's Law is a vote of approval by the full house. To read more about the law go to www.supportdrewslaw.com.
But to understand why this law is so important to many people, you first have to understand the story behind it.
It was New Year's Eve, 2007 and Danielle Steinberger's big plans involved the couch and some cookies with her husband.
Danielle was pregnant and due any day, so she left her mother's house in Richmond early to make it home for dinner. "I got in the car to leave and didn't make it a mile up the road, if that, when I was hit," Danielle said.
Police said Ronald Berry crossed the center line and hit Danielle's car head-on.
Danielle said, "I knew it was bad. I was screaming and yelling,' get me outta here!'"
Danielle and Ronald Berry were care-flighted to Miami Valley Hospital. Police requested that doctors draw Berry's blood to check for drugs or alcohol. Police said the odor of alcohol was detected by individuals at the scene.
Danielle and her unborn son, Drew, were slipping away. "When I got to Miami Valley, my blood pressure 30/20. They put me in medically induced coma," Danielle said.
Her husband Dustin said, "The doctors asked me if I wanted to see our son and I said yeah. They took us into a room, sat down, brought him in. It was just horrible, sitting there holding your son in your arms. You wait all that time, so excited to have him, he's so beautiful and just nothing there, he wasn't alive."
Danielle herself was barely alive. As she lay unknowing in a coma, Dustin planned Drew's funderal and waited for the day that Danielle would wake up and ask for Drew.
Dustin said, "How was I going to tell her? It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life."
As they grieved, Danielle battled to recover. She spent nearly a half a year in a rehabilitation center learning how to walk again and racking up a million dollars in medical bills.
She also learned that she can never have children again. Danielle said, "It hurts so bad. You have your good days, and your bad days. It's a tough thing to come to grips with that's for sure."
However, the hardest battle was yet to come.
Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman had to tell Danielle and Dustin that the bloodwork proving that Ronald Berry was drunk, had been lost. Berry walked away with a traffic ticket.
"It was almost, almost as bad as losing him," said Danielle.
In a terrible twist of fate, Danielle was only a mile and a half from the state line when the accident happened. If she had made it to Ohio, everything would have been different. "Ohio already has laws that protect unborn children, so he would have been charged with killing Drew," said Danielle.
In Indiana, there is no law against causing the termination of a pregnancy while driving under the influence. Danielle said, "I remember laying in the hospital, saying we're going to change this, do it for him, in honor of our son and stop it from happening to somebody else."
So, they did. In January, Danielle testified before an Indiana Senate sub-committee in support of a new law that makes killing an unborn fetus while driving under the influence, a felony offense. It's called Senate Bill 71, Drew's Law. They approved the bill and sent it to the General Legislature for a vote.
For Danielle and Dustin, this is as much about healing as it is about helping. Dustin said, "It's not going to hurt less, but just to know we can move on with our lives."
Part of that is knowing that Drew would be proud. "I wish he was here with us, but he got to escape it, and he is with all the rest of our family watching us, and I know he's with us and I hope he's proud of what we're doing, and we'll see him again someday," said Danielle.