[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 26 Introduced in House (IH)]




                                     


104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 26

 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States with 
                     respect to the right to life.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 1995

Mr. Dornan (for himself, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Smith 
of New Jersey, Mr. Hyde, and Mrs. Vucanovich) introduced the following 
 joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States with 
                     respect to the right to life.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House 
concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States 
within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. The right to life is the paramount and most 
fundamental right of a person.
    ``Section 2. With respect to the right to life guaranteed to 
persons by the fifth and fourteenth articles of amendment to the 
Constitution, the word `person' applies to all human beings, 
irrespective of age, health, function, or condition of dependency, 
including their unborn offspring at every stage of their biological 
development including fertilization.
    ``Section 3. No unborn person shall be deprived of life by any 
person: Provided, however, That nothing in this article shall prohibit 
a law allowing justification to be shown for only those medical 
procedures required to prevent the death of either the pregnant woman 
or her unborn offspring, as long as such law requires every reasonable 
effort be made to preserve the life of each.
    ``Section 4. The Congress and the several States shall have power 
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.''.
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