Bill Text: MI HR0351 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A resolution to declare this legislative body's policy to protect life by extending legal protection to as many unborn children with heartbeats as possible under Michigan law.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 35-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-06 - Referred To Committee On Insurance [HR0351 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HR0351-Introduced.html
Rep. Hooker offered the following resolution:
House Resolution No. 351.
A resolution to declare this legislative body's policy to protect life by extending legal protection to as many unborn children with heartbeats as possible under Michigan law.
Whereas, The state of Michigan retains a compelling interest in protecting an unborn child who possesses attributes of life, such as a beating heart and brain waves. Advances in medical knowledge and technology have revealed to medical professionals and laymen alike, the rapid and intricate development of each human being at the earliest stages of life. Pivotal physiological functions, such as a heartbeat within 3 weeks of fertilization and measureable brain waves at approximately 6 weeks of development, are detectable in the earliest stages of development. Common understanding and the law recognize the presence of a heartbeat as an indicator of life and the absence of a heartbeat as an indicator of death; and
Whereas, The state of Michigan has protected unborn children from abortion throughout its history. The legislature acted early in Michigan's statehood through passage of section 34 of Chapter 153 incorporated in the Revised Statutes of 1846 to penalize willful acts causing miscarriage and has protected pregnant women continuously since then. Further, the people of Michigan voted to maintain a ban on abortion by rejecting Ballot Proposal B of 1972 by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin at a time when other states were voting to legalize abortion; and
Whereas, The Michigan Supreme Court, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states, stated, "It is the public policy of the state to proscribe abortion," and acted to preserve the application of Michigan's abortion ban to the greatest extent possible; and
Whereas, Both the Michigan and U.S. constitutions are established to promote and protect the life and liberty of "ourselves and our posterity," including unborn children. Abortion is an assault on the life of future generations; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we declare it is this legislative body's policy, and within the rights of this state and its people, to protect life by extending legal protection to as many unborn children with heartbeats as possible under Michigan law.
