[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 14 (Thursday, February 6, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF 1997

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                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 6, 1997

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue that is of 
great concern to many Americans, abortion. Mr. Speaker, approximately 
1.5 million innocent babies are intentionally killed every year because 
of abortion. This represents 4,000 times a day that an unborn child is 
taken from its mother's womb prematurely and denied the opportunity to 
live. Section 1 of the fourteenth amendment to our Constitution clearly 
states that no State shall ``deprive any person of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.'' I wholeheartedly 
believe that these constitutional rights should include our country's 
unborn children.
  Mr. Speaker, in the landmark case of Roe versus Wade, the Supreme 
Court refused to determine when human life begins and therefore found 
nothing to indicate that the unborn are persons protected by the 
fourteenth amendment. In the decision, however, the Court did concede 
that, ``If the suggestion of personhood is established, the appellants' 
case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be 
guaranteed specifically by the Amendment.'' Considering Congress has 
the constitutional authority to uphold the fourteenth amendment, 
coupled with the fact that the Court admitted that if personhood were 
to be established, the unborn would be protected, it can be determined 
that we have the authority to determine when life begins.
  It is for this reason that today I am introducing the Right to Life 
Act of 1997. This legislation does what the Supreme Court refused to do 
and recognizes the personhood of the unborn for the purpose of 
enforcing four important provisions in the Constitution: First, the due 
process clause, section 1 of the fourteenth amendment, which prohibits 
States from depriving any person of life; second, section 5 of the 
fourteenth amendment, which gives Congress the power to enforce, by 
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this amendment; third, the 
due process clause of the fifth amendment, which concurrently prohibits 
the Federal Government from depriving any person of life; and fourth, 
article 1, section 8, which gives Congress the power to make laws 
necessary and proper to enforce all powers in the Constitution.
  The Right to Life Act of 1997 will protect millions of future unborn 
children by prohibiting any State or Federal law that denies the 
personhood of the unborn, thereby effectively overturning Roe versus 
Wade. I urge my colleagues to join me in this very important endeavor.

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