

DEMINT COSPONSORS 'LIFE AT CONCEPTION ACT'

To better protect America's unborn, Sen. DeMint has cosponsored the "Life at Conception Act" (S. 3111), which legislatively declares -- once and for all -- that life begins at conception. Under the act, the unborn would now be considered "persons" under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. If passed and signed into law, the act would challenge the very core of what abortion activists hold dear: the Roe v. Wade decision. A press release from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who introduced the bill, lays out the argument well: In its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court refused to resolve the question of when life begins, leaving Congress the opportunity to declare legislatively that life begins at the moment of conception. In the Roe v. Wade decision, the court acknowledged that “if this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case [i.e., “Roe”], of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.” Other original cosponsors include: Senators Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), David Vitter (R-La.), Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio). The bill is a companion bill to legislation introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) in the House.

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