"North Dakota's House of Representatives has passed a bill effectively outlawing abortion. The House voted 51-41 this afternoon to declare that a fertilized egg has all the rights of any person. That means a fetus could not be legally aborted without the procedure being considered murder. Minot Republican Dan Ruby has sponsored other bills banning abortion in previous legislative sessions - all of which failed. He also sponsored today's bill and says it is compatible with Roe versus Wade - the Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion. (Rep. Dan Ruby, -R- Minot) "This is the exact language that's required by Roe vs. Wade. It stipulated that before a challenge can be made, we have to identify when life begins, and that's what this does." VO CONTINUES But Minot Democrat Kari Conrad says the bill will land North Dakota in court, trying to defend the constitutionality of a law that goes against the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. (Rep. Kari Conrad, -D- Minot) "People who presented this bill, were very clear that they intended to challenge Roe versus Wade. So they intend to put the state of North Dakota into court defending Roe vs. Wade"."
I think this is a very important matter that fits directly into our discussion. Like it says in the article, they are declaring when life begins. I think this is outrageous and unconstitutional because it goes against the supreme court decision that has already legalized abortion.
You can view the news video here.
"ND House Passes Abortion Ban." Minot News, Weather, Sports and Entertainment. 17 Feb. 2009. KXTV.
I find this extremely interesting even from a completely legal standpoint. The Supreme Court found that a woman's right to choose to have an abortion was protected under the 14th amendment to the constitution (protecting privacy) and therefore a Texas law outlawing abortion was found unconstitutional. The constitution of the United States gives certain rights to the people which neither States nor the federal government can violate. Although States cannot give citizens less rights than afforded to them in the U.S. constitution, states CAN, in their own constitutions, legally give their citizens more rights than specified in the constitution.
ReplyDeleteThis is why the situation becomes interesting. North Dakota declared that a "fertilized egg has all the rights of any person". This means that a fertilized egg could now be protected under the North Dakota constitution. What North Dakota will argue is not that they are taking a way a woman's right to choose but rather giving the right to life to the fertilized egg.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I completely agree with Andrew. I personally think this is a very good law that was passed in North Carolina. I think that this gives a voice to those fertilized eggs in saying that they deserve a chance also. They weren't chosen to be made but they were and now they want to live their life.
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