IA

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. J. RES. 394

Declaring that the preborn are persons entitled to the guarantees contained

in the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution

of the United States of America and prohibiting abortion within the

United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 28, 1994

Mr. DORNAN introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

JOINT RESOLUTION

Declaring that the preborn are persons entitled to the guarantees contained in the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth

amendments to the Constitution of the United States

of America and prohibiting abortion within the United

States.

Whereas, in the Proclamation of National Sanctity of Human

Life Day, 1988, the President of the United States proclaimed and declared ‘‘the unalienable personhood of

every American, from the moment of conception until

natural death’’;
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Whereas such proclamation clearly set forth the reasons for

such recognition of personhood, as follows:

‘‘America had given a great gift to the world, a gift

that drew upon the accumulated wisdom derived from

centuries of experiments in self government, a gift that

has irrevocably changed humanity’s future. Our gift is

twofold: The declaration, as a cardinal principal of all

just law, of the God-given unalienable rights possessed by

every human being; and the example of our determination

to secure those rights and to defend them against every

challenge through the generations. Our declaration and

defense of our rights have made us and kept us free and

has sent a tide of hope and inspiration around the globe.

‘‘One of those unalienable rights, as the Declaration

of Independence affirms so eloquently, is the right to life.

In the fifteen years since the Supreme Court’s decision

in Roe v. Wade however, America’s unborn have been denied their right to life. Among the tragic and unspeakable

results in the past decade and a half have been the loss

of life of twenty-two million infants before birth; the pressure and anguish of countless women and girls who are

driven to abortion; and a cheapening of our respect for

the human person and the sanctity of human life.

‘‘We are told that we may not interfere with abortion. We are told that we may not ‘impose our morality’

on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking

of the life of infants before birth; yet no one calls it ‘imposing morality’ to prohibit the taking of life after people

are born. We are told as well that there exists a ‘right’

to end the lives of unborn children; yet no one can explain how such a right can exist in stark contradiction of

each person’s fundamental right to life.
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‘‘That right to life belongs equally to babies in the

womb, babies born handicapped, and the elderly or infirm. That we have killed the unborn for fifteen years

does not nullify this right, nor could any number of

killings ever do so. The unalienable right to life is found

not only in the Declaration of Independence but also in

the Constitution that every President is sworn to persevere, protect, and defend. Both the fifth and fourteenth

amendment guarantee that no person shall be deprived of

life without due process of law.

‘‘All medical and scientific evidence increasingly affirms that children before birth share all the basic attributes of human personality—that they in fact are persons. Modern medicine treats unborn children as patients. Yet, as the Supreme Court itself has noted, the

decision in Roe v. Wade rested upon an earlier state of

medical technology. The law of the land in 1988 should

recognize all of the medical evidence.

‘‘Our nation cannot continue down the path of abortion, so radically at odds with our history, our heritage,

and our concepts of justice. This sacred legacy, and the

well-being and the future of our country, demand that

protection of the innocents must be guaranteed and that

the personhood of the unborn be declared and defended

throughout our land.’’;

Whereas Congress has the power and responsibility to enforce

the guarantees contained in the fifth, thirteenth, and

fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United

States of America, which guarantees to all persons the

right not to be deprived of life without due process of

law, the right to the equal protection of the law, and the

right to be free from involuntary servitude, and the power
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to enforce such guarantees includes the power to expand

the definition of ‘‘persons’’ entitled to such guarantees;

Whereas abortion is a deprivation of the right to life and the

right to the equal protection of the law and is the ultimate manifestation of the involuntary servitude of one

human being to another; and

Whereas Congress intends by enacting this resolution to enforce the guarantees of the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United

States of America: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Human

5 Life Protection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF PERSONHOOD.

7 All human beings, from the moment of conception

8 and without regard to age, health, or condition of depend9 ency, are persons entitled to the guarantees contained in

10 the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the

11 Constitution of the United States of America.

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF ABORTION.

13 To secure the rights of preborn persons under the

14 fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the Con15 stitution of the United States of America, abortion is here16 by prohibited within the United States.
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1 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

2 The Congress and the several States shall have

3 concurrent power to enforce the prohibition contained in

4 section 3.

5 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

6 For purposes of this resolution—

7 (1) the term ‘‘abortion’’ means the intentional

8 destruction of preborn human life, which life begins

9 at the moment of conception; and

10 (2) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the several

11 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

12 of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern

13 Mariana Islands, and the territories and possessions

14 of the United States.

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