The North Dakota House of Representatives has passed the first personhood amendment in the United States, 57-35. Read more
Alabama
2012
Personhood Alabama, led by Ben DuPré, proposes an amendment to the Alabama state constitution:
All persons are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable right to life.
As used herein, the word "person" applies to all human beings from conception, which is defined as the earliest stage of development of a human being.
This Amendment shall have no effect on contraceptives or other methods of birth control, that do not kill a person. This Amendment shall have no effect on in vitro fertilization, or any other method of assisted reproduction, that does not kill a person. This Amendment shall have no effect on medical treatment for life-threatening physical conditions intended to preserve life.
2011
Senator Phil Williams introduced SB301, which initially read:
The term “persons,” as used in the Code of Alabama 1975, shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof.
Senator Bussman offered, and the Senate approved, an amendment changing the language to:
The term “persons,” as used in the
Code of Alabama 1975, shall include any human being from the moment of
fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof and implantation
into the womb.
The measure, as corrupted, passed the Senate 23-7 . SB301 also passed the House Health Committee.
Representative John Merrill introduced HB405 and HB409. HB409 was a proposed Constitutional Amendment that read:
The term person as used in the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof.
HB405 was a proposed statute that read:
The term 'persons' as used in the Code of Alabama 1975, shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof.
All three bills died in the House without a vote.
2010
Senator Hank Erwin introduced SB301, which added unborn human beings to the definition of “person” in the Code of Alabama 1975:
The word "person" includes a corporation as well as a natural person. The word "person" also includes any human being from the moment of fertilization.
The bill was buried in committee.
(last updated 2012 Mar 26)
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The Petition
Dear Alabama Lawmaker: Every year that goes by, over one million children in the womb are brutally murdered through abortion. The key to unraveling this tragedy is a simple one and it has been known since before Roe v. Wade. It is Personhood. During oral argument of Roe, Chief Justice Warren Burger explained to pro-abortion attorney Sarah Weddington that by declaring "by statute that a fetus is a person for all constitutional purposes” a state could outlaw abortion. By stripping personhood from the unborn, their right to life was revoked. By returning personhood to the weak and the powerless, we can restore their dignity and right to life as human beings. It really is that simple. African slaves were denied their personhood and were therefore treated as property, bought, sold, and bred as animals. Jews were not considered full persons, so their property could be confiscated and their people eliminated. When Spanish conquistadors colonized America, many wealthy landowners fought to convince the Spanish crown that non-Christian “indians” were not legal persons and could therefore be enslaved. Personhood is the key to all human rights. That is why at the heart of the Roe v. Wade opinion is the following heartless pronouncement, written by Justice Blackmun, “the word ‘person’ ... does not include the unborn.” Not once, since 1973, has the Supreme Court been challenged to reconsider Blackmun’s terrible words. With federal and judicial tyranny at its apex, we the undersigned request that our Alabama legislators stand up for life in a bold and principled way. We, the undersigned urge you to support a personhood measure that recognizes that the preborn child is a person with the unalienable right to life. We, the undersigned expect you to stand up for the values of the people of Alabama by no longer cowering to a federal and judicial tyranny that mandates the destruction of our morals, our families, and our posterity. We, the undersigned will hold you accountable for your action or inaction in bringing about and supporting a personhood measure, and we will vote accordingly.
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