Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Miss.) has introduced a new bill in the House, the so-called “Life at Conception Act” (HR 722), which would ban abortion across the nation.
According to a press release from Burlison’s office on Jan. 24, “This landmark legislation declares that unborn children are ‘persons’ under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing their right to life to be legally recognized and protected.”
A quote from Burlison reads: “Every life is a sacred gift from God, deserving of dignity and protection from the moment of conception. The Life at Conception Act uses Congress’ constitutional authority to define personhood, fulfilling our moral and legal obligation to safeguard the lives of the unborn.”
Burlison is attempting to use the 14th Amendment—which grants citizenship to all people born in the United States—to extend personhood to fetuses and embryos. Ironically, Republicans are also currently trying to undermine the right to citizenship that the 14th Amendment grants to people born in the U.S., with President Trump signing an unconstitutional executive order last week attempting to block birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
Antiabortion groups Students for Life, National Pro-Life Alliance and Catholic Vote, among others, have already endorsed the bill, along with 68 co-sponsors in the House. If it were to pass, the bill would need a majority of votes (218 out of 435) in the House before moving onto the Senate.
Feminist author, Jessica Valenti, wrote that the bill, although unlikely to pass, “invokes and centers ‘equal protection’—a term that’s become Republican code for charging abortion patients with murder.” She also connected the bill to “the mainstreaming of so-called abortion ‘abolitionists’ who want the law to treat abortion patients as murderers”—just a few weeks after four states, South Dakota, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Indiana, introduced bills that would reclassify abortion as homicide and prosecute abortion patients as murderers, which could mean the death penalty.
The Feminist Newswire will continue tracking bill HR 722 as Burlison attempts to move it through the House.