As adopted by senate, January 28, 2021
senate Resolution No.8
Senators Theis, MacDonald, Zorn, Bizon, Victory, Daley, Bumstead, LaSata, Nesbitt, Horn, Lauwers, McBroom, Stamas, VanderWall, Shirkey and Runestad offered the following resolution:
Whereas, A fundamental role of government is to protect the unalienable rights of citizens. This nation was founded on the principle that the right to life is among these rights possessed by every human being. Founding father Thomas Jefferson declared, The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."; and
Whereas, Abortions reject the core moral principles of our nation by destroying innocent living and developing human beings who are no different than every born citizen of this state. Science and medicine have definitively established that each individual human life begins when fertilization occurs, which is a factual determination and not a matter of opinion or religious belief; and
Whereas, The state of Michigan has a long and unbroken history of protecting unborn children. Michigan has continuously had a law prohibiting abortions in effect since 1846, as currently found in section 14 of the Michigan Penal Code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.14. While the United States Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade limits the enforcement of Michigan's abortion prohibition, it continues to be the policy of the state of Michigan to proscribe abortions; and
Whereas, The people of Michigan have expressed their objection to abortions when presented with opportunities to change it. The people affirmed the prohibition on abortion in a 1972 statewide referendum which proposed to legalize abortion through 20 weeks of pregnancy. The referendum was overwhelmingly rejected with a vote of 61 percent to 39 percent against the proposal; and
Whereas, The Michigan Constitution was ordained to secure the blessings of freedom, among them the right to life, for ourselves and our posterity, which undoubtedly includes our children born, unborn, and not yet conceived; and
Whereas, Abortion represents a failure of society to support and empower women to embrace their unborn children; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, That we affirm the right to life of every unborn child in this state and our support for the legal protection for each unborn child codified in section 14 of the Michigan Penal Code; and be it further
Resolved, That we exhort the Attorney General, all law enforcement officials, and state regulatory personnel to enforce all laws regulating or limiting the practice of abortion until such time that complete legal protection is restored to unborn children in Michigan; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Attorney General of Michigan.