87S30104 SCL-F
By: Vasut H.J.R. No. 5
A JOINT RESOLUTION
applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention
under Article V of the United States Constitution for the limited
purpose of proposing an amendment to the constitution to prohibit
abortion, euthanasia, and certain other acts.
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution provides
that on application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the
several states the Congress of the United States shall call a
convention for the purpose of proposing for ratification an
amendment to the United States Constitution; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 87th Texas Legislature hereby
respectfully applies to the Congress of the United States to call a
convention pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution
for the limited purpose of proposing, and submitting for
ratification, an amendment to the United States Constitution
abrogating Roe v. Wade and clearly prohibiting abortion,
euthanasia, and all other acts that deprive any person of life, from
the moment of conception to natural death, without due process of
law; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the 87th Texas Legislature encourages the
delegates to the convention to consider the following recommended
text for the proposed constitutional amendment:
Section 1. Given that all human life begins at the moment of
conception and has inherent dignity and immeasurable worth, a human
being, from the moment of conception until death, irrespective of
biological development, age, health, function, or condition of
dependency, is a person as that term is used in this Article and in
the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to this Constitution;
Section 2. Euthanasia and abortion are unlawful under the
laws of the United States and any territory subject to their
jurisdiction;
Section 3. Euthanasia includes the intentional, knowing, or
reckless rendering of material assistance to aid another person in
committing, or attempting to commit, suicide;
Section 4. Abortion includes the intentional, knowing, or
reckless killing of any person before birth;
Section 5. If, in the reasonable opinion of a medical
professional or other state or federal official, the mother is in
danger of suffering imminent death or serious bodily injury, a
person may be removed from the mother's body at the mother's
election by natural or artificial methods even if the person cannot
survive outside the mother's body;
Section 6. The Congress, and the several states, have power
to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That this application constitutes a continuous and
ongoing application, in accordance with Article V of the United
States Constitution, until: (1) the Texas Legislature considers it
fitting to rescind the application; or (2) at least two-thirds of
the legislatures of the several states have similarly applied for a
convention to propose a constitutional amendment and Congress has
performed its constitutionally obligated duty to call that
convention; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as an
application to Congress for a convention under Article V of the
United States Constitution for the limited purpose of proposing an
amendment to the constitution to prohibit abortion, euthanasia, and
all other acts that deprive any person of life, from the moment of
conception to natural death, without due process of law; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the secretaries of state and to the
presiding officers of the legislatures of the several states with
the request that they join this state in applying to Congress for a
convention under Article V of the United States Constitution for
the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to the constitution
to prohibit abortion, euthanasia, and all other acts that deprive
any person of life, from the moment of conception to natural death,
without due process of law.