[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 INTRODUCTION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE ACT

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                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 9, 1999

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue that is of 
great concern to many Americans, abortion. Every year, approximately 
1.5 million innocent babies are intentionally killed because of 
abortion. This represents 4,000 times a day that an unborn child is 
taken from its mother's womb and denied the opportunity to live. In 
some instances, these babies are killed moments before taking their 
first breath. Section I 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 nation's unborn children.
  Mr. Speaker, in the landmark case of Roe v. 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 be guaranteed 
specifically by the Amendment.'' Considering Congress has the 
constitutional authority to uphold the Fourteenth Amendment, coupled by 
the fact that the Court admitted that if personhood were to be 
established, the unborn would be protected, it can be concluded 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. This legislation does what the Supreme Court refused to do in Roe 
v. Wade and recognizes the personhood of the unborn for the purpose of 
enforcing four important provisions in the Constitution: (1) Sec. I of 
the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting states from depriving any person 
of life; (2) Sec. 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment providing Congress the 
power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this 
amendment; (3) the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, which 
concurrently prohibits the federal government from depriving any person 
of life; and (4) Article I, Section 8, giving Congress the power to 
make laws necessary and proper to enforce all powers in the 
Constitution.
  The Right to Life Act will protect millions of future children by 
prohibiting any state or federal law that denies the personhood of the 
unborn, thereby effectively overturning Roe v. Wade. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in this very important endeavor.

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