North Dakota State House Approves Personhood-Abortion Ban Legislation

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor

Bismarck, ND (LifeNews.com) -- The North Dakota state House on Tuesday approved a bill that declares unborn children as persons beginning at the point of fertilization, or conception. The bill could be used to challenge the Supreme's Court's infamous Roe v. Wade ruling and ban abortions.
 
Because the bill defines an unborn baby as a person, an abortion of an unborn child would be considered murder under state law.

The legislative chamber approved House Bill 1572 on a 51-41 vote and now the measure heads to the state Senate for consideration.

Republican Rep. Dan Ruby, who has also sponsored other pro-life bills this legislative session, is the main sponsor of the personhood bill. He says the measure fits in with what the Supreme Court said in Roe, namely that abortion would be illegal if the personhood of the unborn child could be asserted.

"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," he said.

Still, he said that the measure doesn't go as far as banning abortions in the same way a previous bill had or the two ballot measures neighboring South Dakota considered. (Full story at Lifenews.com)