A crowd listens to Ginna Cross, an out-of-state anti-abortion advocate, testify in favor of a bill to define a human being to include an unborn child. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
(Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota lawmakers are weighing whether to allow women who obtain abortions to be charged with murder.
House Bill 1373, referred to as a “personhood bill,” would define a human being to include an unborn child in state laws relating to murder, assault and wrongful death lawsuits. The bill would also establish that an unborn child exists at the moment of fertilization.
Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, is the bill’s lead sponsor. She said the Legislature’s prior attempts to restrict abortion did not go far enough.
“This is a commonsense bill that will close a loophole that has allowed the murder of innocent lives to continue in this state,” she told the House Human Services Committee during a hearing on the bill.
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