Politics
Thursday February 19, 2009
North Dakota House Passes Personhood Bill Tuesday
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By Kathleen Gilbert
BISMARCK, North Dakota, February 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The rights of unborn children gained a victory in North Dakota on Tuesday, as the state House of Representatives voted to recognize the personhood of all human beings, from conception.
"For purposes of interpretation of the constitution and laws of North Dakota, it is the intent of the legislative assembly that an individual, a person, when the context indicates that a reference to an individual is intended, or a human being includes any organism with the genome of homo sapiens," reads part of The Personhood of Children Act (House Resolution 1572).
Led by American Life League Associate group North Dakota Life League, North Dakota's Personhood Movement celebrated the passage of the bill, introduced by State Rep. Dan Ruby, in a 51-41 vote. A grassroots personhood campaign had spurred the outcome, with thousands of calls asking legislators to support the bill in its unaltered form.
"We are very excited about the personhood movement in North Dakota - which has the chance to become the first state to protect the rights of all its citizens from their biological beginning," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League.
"North Dakotans have gotten used to cold temperatures like -44 degrees, but they haven't gotten used to child-killing," said Cal Zastrow, a North Dakotan who took part in the grassroots personhood campaign along with his family. "We applaud and support their efforts to protect every baby by love and by law."
Fifteen other states are currently pursuing personhood legislation.
The Senate vote is expected in the next two to three weeks. North Dakota will become the first state in the Union with personhood legislation if the measure passes the Senate.
On Monday the state House of Representatives also approved an informed consent law requiring any woman seeking an abortion to be informed that the procedure kills a "whole, separate, unique, living human being." HR 1445 passed in a 61-31 vote.
"The North Dakota House did the right thing by strengthening the informed consent law," stated Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. "The state's last abortion mill will not, of course, be happy. Their business depends upon covering the truth, not conveying it."
For more information on nationwide personhood legislation, go to: http://www.PersonhoodUSA.com/
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