Dakota Beacon

In 2009, Rep. Dan Ruby (ND-38) introduced House Bill 1572, which prohibited the killing of any human being, born or unborn, and included a dismemberment abortion ban:

A person is guilty of an offense if that person intentionally dismembers the body of another human being, as defined in section 1 of this Act, without causing the death of the other human being.

This pro-life bill was later simplified to prohibit the killing of any human being. But this attempt at specifically banning dismemberment abortions was the first in U.S. history.

In 2019, Rep. Luke Simons (ND-36) introduced House Bill 1546, a stand-alone dismemberment abortion ban, which passed the Legislative Assembly and was signed by Governor Burgum.

SECTION 1. A new section to chapter 14-02.1 of the North Dakota Century Code is created and enacted as follows: Prohibition on human dismemberment abortion - Penalty.

1. For purposes of this section, "human dismemberment abortion" means intentionally dismembering a living unborn child and extracting the unborn child one piece at a time from a uterus, with the purpose of causing the death of an unborn child, through use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors, or similar instruments that, through the convergence of two rigid levers, slice, crush, or grasp the head, arm, leg, spinal cord, internal organ, or other portion of the unborn child's body to cut or rip it off, regardless if the fetal body parts are removed by the same instrument, suction, or other means.

2. Except in the case of a medical emergency, it is a class C felony for an individual to intentionally perform a human dismemberment abortion.

3. A woman upon whom a human dismemberment abortion is performed or attempted to be performed in violation of subsection 2 may not be prosecuted for a violation of subsection 2 or for conspiracy to violate subsection 2.

House Bill 1546 goes into effect when the Attorney General certifies to the legislative council that dismemberment abortion bans are enforceable.

SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. Section 1 of this Act becomes effective…on the thirtieth day after the attorney general certifies to the legislative council:

1. The issuance of the judgment in any decision of…the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit which would allow enforcement of section 1 of this Act

On August 7, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit allowed enforcement of a dismemberment abortion ban in Arkansas and thus every other state in the Eight Circuit.         As a result, Attorney General Stenehjem should immediately put House Bill 1546 into effect by certifying House Bill 1546 to the legislative council.

Attorney General Stenehjem would successfully defend House Bill 1546 if challenged in court. He signed amicus briefs in support of dismemberment bans in Texas and Alabama. Though it is unlikely House Bill 1546 will be challenged for two reasons:

1. The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals allowed enforcement of the Arkansas dismemberment ban on August 7 and rejected reconsideration of its decision on December 15.
2. On August 13, Nebraska passed a law banning dismemberment abortion, which took effect without legal challenge.

Please thank Attorney General Stenehjem for his pro-life work and encourage him to certify House Bill 1546 to the legislative council.

Daniel Woodard has advocated for passage of dismemberment abortion bans since 2009 and sponsored a ballot initiative to ban dismemberment abortions in 2010.