North Dakota lawmakers introduced legislation to abolish abortion in the state by extending legal protections from murder and assault to equally protect preborn babies in the womb.
The legislation, introduced by North Dakota Republican State Representative Lori VanWinkle and backed by eleven other lawmakers, defines human life as starting from fertilization, as well as ensures that the definition of “human being” and “person” is consistently applied with respect to “the offenses of murder and assault, and civil actions for death caused by wrongful acts.”
“Every preborn baby is created in the holy image of God. Therefore, these babies deserve to be equally protected by laws that reflect their dignity and worth as human beings,” VanWinkle remarked in a press release about the bill published by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion.
The organization warned that even as current abortion law in North Dakota “prohibits abortionists from performing most abortions in the state,” the law also provides “explicit legal immunity to mothers who choose to murder their own babies.” That reality has enabled pregnant women in North Dakota to murder over 200 preborn babies yearly via self-managed abortion alone as of 2023.
The bill submitted by VanWinkle was backed by a coalition of grassroots Christians and conservatives in North Dakota and beyond, who signed a joint letter urging lawmakers to support the legislation, which is entitled the North Dakota Prenatal Equal Protection Act.
The letter asserted that the bill would ensure “every preborn child enjoys the same legal protections from homicide that protect the lives of born people,” noting that “at the moment of fertilization, God creates a new human being with a unique genetic code.” The grassroots advocates said that the legislation aligns with biblical commands to “pursue justice for the fatherless child” while also “showing no partiality or discrimination” in the justice system.
Increased levels of self-managed abortion have been observed in conservative states in recent years despite the passage of new laws claiming to fully prohibit abortion. America as a whole presently has the highest rate of abortion in a decade, surpassing one million babies per year.
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota rebuked the bill, saying that the legislation would define “human being and personhood to apply at the moment of conception.”
