RIGHT TO LIFE ACT OF SOUTH CAROLINA “PERSONHOOD” BILL INTRODUCED

FILED WITH TOTAL 45 SC HOUSE SPONSORS

PRESS RELEASE

FOR RELEASE: Monday, February 16, 2009

FOR FURTHER INFO:
Contact, Steve Lefemine, dir., Columbia Christians for Life,
CCL@ChristianLifeandLiberty.net,
http://www.christianlifeandliberty.net/ , http://www.righttolifeactofsc.net/
(803) 794-6273; PO Box 50358, Columbia, SC 29250


[COLUMBIA] The Right to Life Act of South Carolina “Personhood” bill was introduced on Thursday, February 12, in the South Carolina House of Representatives with 45 total sponsors, the most at introduction in the 11 years since the bill was first introduced in February 1998.

The SC House (http://www.scstatehouse.gov/), has a total of 124 members.

SC House bill H.3526, filed by Rep. Liston Barfield (R-Conway), states:

“The right to life for each born and preborn human being vests at fertilization.” and “The rights guaranteed by Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution of this State [SC], that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws, vest at fertilization for each born and preborn human person."
( www.scstatehouse.gov/sess118_2009-2010/bills/3526.htm )

The Attorney General of SC issued a legal opinion (Mar 2005) that the Right to Life Act of SC is constitutional on its face, though would likely be adjudicated when applied to abortion.

Legal Opinion (2005) of South Carolina Attorney General on the Right to Life Act of SC
"Accordingly, it is our opinion that the Right to Life Act is constitutional."
( www.christianlifeandliberty.net/Westlaw_Document_15_03_35_5392471.doc )

In 2005, the Right to Life Act of SC passed the full South Carolina House of Representatives on April 13, 2005 (Second Reading) by a vote of Yeas-95 to Nays-18, albeit with an exception
amended to the bill for cases of pre-born children conceived by the crime of rape. This denial
of equal protection for the innocent pre-born child in cases of rape, fatally flawed the legal strategy of the bill (i.e., legal personhood) by failing to establish justice for all pre-birth humans.
( www.scstatehouse.gov/sess116_2005-2006/bills/3213.htm )

The 1973 US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision instructed that if “personhood” for the “fetus” was established at fertilization, with no exceptions, then the legal argument for abortion “collapses.”
“If this suggestion of personhood is established, the [abortion] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.”
( http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=410&invol=113 )

The Right to Life Act of SC is constitutional, and meets the express requirement set forth by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade to establish personhood for the fetus, thus guaranteeing the right to life of this pre-birth human being, and ending decriminalized abortion in SC.

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