[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 394 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. J. RES. 394

   Declaring that the preborn are persons entitled to the guarantees 
 contained in the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the 
 Constitution of the United States of America and prohibiting abortion 
                       within the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 1994

    Mr. Dornan introduced the following joint resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
   Declaring that the preborn are persons entitled to the guarantees 
 contained in the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the 
 Constitution of the United States of America and prohibiting abortion 
                       within the United States.

Whereas, in the Proclamation of National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 1988, the 
        President of the United States proclaimed and declared ``the unalienable 
        personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until 
        natural death'';
Whereas such proclamation clearly set forth the reasons for such recognition of 
        personhood, as follows:

    ``America had given a great gift to the world, a gift that drew upon 
the accumulated wisdom derived from centuries of experiments in self 
government, a gift that has irrevocably changed humanity's future. Our gift 
is twofold: The declaration, as a cardinal principal of all just law, of 
the God-given unalienable rights possessed by every human being; and the 
example of our determination to secure those rights and to defend them 
against every challenge through the generations. Our declaration and 
defense of our rights have made us and kept us free and has sent a tide of 
hope and inspiration around the globe.

    ``One of those unalienable rights, as the Declaration of Independence 
affirms so eloquently, is the right to life. In the fifteen years since the 
Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade however, America's unborn have been 
denied their right to life. Among the tragic and unspeakable results in the 
past decade and a half have been the loss of life of twenty-two million 
infants before birth; the pressure and anguish of countless women and girls 
who are driven to abortion; and a cheapening of our respect for the human 
person and the sanctity of human life.

    ``We are told that we may not interfere with abortion. We are told that 
we may not `impose our morality' on those who wish to allow or participate 
in the taking of the life of infants before birth; yet no one calls it 
`imposing morality' to prohibit the taking of life after people are born. 
We are told as well that there exists a `right' to end the lives of unborn 
children; yet no one can explain how such a right can exist in stark 
contradiction of each person's fundamental right to life.

    ``That right to life belongs equally to babies in the womb, babies born 
handicapped, and the elderly or infirm. That we have killed the unborn for 
fifteen years does not nullify this right, nor could any number of killings 
ever do so. The unalienable right to life is found not only in the 
Declaration of Independence but also in the Constitution that every 
President is sworn to persevere, protect, and defend. Both the fifth and 
fourteenth amendment guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life 
without due process of law.

    ``All medical and scientific evidence increasingly affirms that 
children before birth share all the basic attributes of human personality--
that they in fact are persons. Modern medicine treats unborn children as 
patients. Yet, as the Supreme Court itself has noted, the decision in Roe 
v. Wade rested upon an earlier state of medical technology. The law of the 
land in 1988 should recognize all of the medical evidence.

    ``Our nation cannot continue down the path of abortion, so radically at 
odds with our history, our heritage, and our concepts of justice. This 
sacred legacy, and the well-being and the future of our country, demand 
that protection of the innocents must be guaranteed and that the personhood 
of the unborn be declared and defended throughout our land.'';

Whereas Congress has the power and responsibility to enforce the guarantees 
        contained in the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the 
        Constitution of the United States of America, which guarantees to all 
        persons the right not to be deprived of life without due process of law, 
        the right to the equal protection of the law, and the right to be free 
        from involuntary servitude, and the power to enforce such guarantees 
        includes the power to expand the definition of ``persons'' entitled to 
        such guarantees;
Whereas abortion is a deprivation of the right to life and the right to the 
        equal protection of the law and is the ultimate manifestation of the 
        involuntary servitude of one human being to another; and
Whereas Congress intends by enacting this resolution to enforce the guarantees 
        of the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution 
        of the United States of America: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This joint resolution may be cited as the ``Human Life Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF PERSONHOOD.

    All human beings, from the moment of conception and without regard 
to age, health, or condition of dependency, are persons entitled to the 
guarantees contained in the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth 
amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF ABORTION.

    To secure the rights of preborn persons under the fifth, 
thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United 
States of America, abortion is hereby prohibited within the United 
States.

SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

    The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to 
enforce the prohibition contained in section 3.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this resolution--
            (1) the term ``abortion'' means the intentional destruction 
        of preborn human life, which life begins at the moment of 
        conception; and
            (2) the term ``United States'' means the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the 
        territories and possessions of the United States.
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