Constitutional Authority Statement for H.R. 616; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 9
(House of Representatives - January 16, 2019)

Text available as:

Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.


[Page H677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

           By Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia:
       H.R. 616.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This legislation makes clear that human life begins at the 
     moment of conception and, therefore, the unborn are entitled 
     to the same rights and protections afforded to all American 
     citizens under the U.S. Constitution. In affirming human life 
     begins at conception, the unborn are granted the right to due 
     process under Section 1 of the 14th Amendment which 
     explicitly states, ``No state shall make or enforce any law 
     which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens 
     of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person 
     of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; 
     nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
     protection of the laws.''
       The Life at Conception Act allows for constitutional 
     protection for the unborn that they not ``be deprived of 
     life, liberty, or property, without due process of law'' 
     afforded under the 5th Amendment.