Legislators in the nation's capitol hope versions of a bill just introduced in both houses of Congress provides a major piece of the legal standing needed to eventually challenge the basis of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
The "Life at Conception Act" declares the unborn to be persons under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, addressing the question that Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) says the Supreme Court left unresolved in 1973 -- and that only Congress can use to meet the conditions under which the high court said its conclusions supporting legal abortion can be reversed. "Roe versus Wade itself said that if personhood is established, then Ms. Roe's position collapsed," Wicker points out. "In other words, if the fetus is a human life, then that is guaranteed specifically by the 14th Amendment." Ten co-sponsors initially joined Wicker on the Life at Conception Act, whose companion legislation has been introduced in the House this session by Representative Duncan Hunter (R-California). Senate co-sponsors include Republicans Sam Brownback (Kansas), James Inhofe (Oklahoma), Jim Demint (South Carolina), and Mel Martinez (Florida). "The legislation simply says that as a matter of federal law, yes, life does begin at conception and is therefore entitled to all the protections of any life under the Constitution of the United States," the Mississippi Republican explains. Wicker acknowledges that Democrats have not allowed previous incarnations of this bill to the floor for a vote. But he and his co-sponsors are hoping the cause might be taken up now by presumptive Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain in an election year -- or at least brought to the public attention for discussion.
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