Thursday, February 19, 2009

US state set to recognize 'personhood' of fetus

WASHINGTON: North Dakota has become the first US state to move towards passing a law that defines "personhood" as starting at the moment of conception, which would effectively outlaw abortion, pro-life groups said.

Lawmakers in the North Dakota lower house voted 51 to 41 on Tuesday to pass the Personhood of Children Act, which confers the same basic rights on "all human beings from the beginning of their biological development, including the pre-born, partially born."

Voters in Colorado rejected by three-to-one a personhood amendment to their state constitution in a referendum in November. The North Dakota bill is expected to go before the state senate in around two weeks.

If passed, it would be used to challenge the supreme court's 1973 Roe versus Wade decision, which legalised abortion in the US and gave the country the least restrictive abortion laws in the world, experts said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/US/US_state_set_to_recognize_personhood_of_fetus/articleshow/4157646.cms

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