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 guar-
antees 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 pro-
claimed 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 de-
nied 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 pres-
sure 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 abor-
tion. 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 ‘im-
posing 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 ex-
plain 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 in-
firm. 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 per-
severe, 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 af-
firms that children before birth share all the basic at-
tributes of human personality—that they in fact are per-
sons. Modern medicine treats unborn children as pa-
tients. 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 abor-
tion, 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 ulti-
mate manifestation of the involuntary servitude of one
human being to another; and
Whereas Congress intends by enacting this resolution to en-
force the guarantees of the fifth, thirteenth, and four-
teenth amendments to the Constitution of the United
States of America: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Human
Life Protection Act’’.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF PERSONHOOD.
All human beings, from the moment of conception
and without regard to age, health, or condition of depend-
ency, are persons entitled to the guarantees contained in
the fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the
Constitution of the United States of America.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF ABORTION.
To secure the rights of preborn persons under the
fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth amendments to the Con-
stitution of the United States of America, abortion is here-
by prohibited within the United States.
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SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.
The Congress and the several States shall have
concurrent power to enforce the prohibition contained in
section 3.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this resolution—
(1) the term ‘‘abortion’’ means the intentional
destruction of preborn human life, which life begins
at the moment of conception; and
(2) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, and the territories and possessions
of the United States.
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