A BILL for an Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 12.1-16, a new section to chapter 12.1-17, and two new sections to chapter 32-21 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the definition of human being and person as the terms relate to the offenses of murder and assault, and civil actions for death caused by wrongful acts.
Summary
HB 1373 would expand North Dakota law to define “human being” and “person” to include an unborn child for purposes of the state’s murder, assault, and wrongful death statutes. The bill defines an unborn child as a living human child before birth beginning at fertilization, and it creates parallel definitions across the criminal and civil code sections it amends.
The measure also carves out exceptions so that the new definitions would not apply to unintentional death or injury of an unborn child resulting from ordinary diagnostic medical practice, a procedure performed to save the mother’s life when reasonable steps are taken to save the unborn child, or a spontaneous miscarriage. In effect, the bill would extend legal protections and potential liability to conduct affecting unborn children while preserving specified medical and miscarriage-related exceptions.
Impact
If enacted, HB 1373 would change North Dakota’s criminal and civil statutes by expressly including unborn children within the terms used in homicide, assault, and wrongful death provisions. That would broaden the scope of who may be considered a victim under those laws and could affect prosecutions, civil claims, and damages arising from harm to a fetus or unborn child. The bill would also create statutory exceptions intended to limit application in certain medical and pregnancy-loss situations.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been met with strong opposition in the House, where it failed on second reading by a wide margin, 16-77. The vote suggests limited legislative support for the proposal in its introduced form. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record reflects sentiment primarily through the decisive floor vote rather than detailed debate.
Contention
The central point of contention is the bill’s expansion of legal personhood-like protections to unborn children from the moment of fertilization, which raises concerns for opponents about criminal liability, civil exposure, and the broader legal status of embryos and fetuses. Supporters likely viewed the bill as strengthening protections for unborn life and ensuring accountability for harm to pregnant women and unborn children, while opponents appear to have rejected the breadth of the definitions and their implications for criminal law, assault law, and wrongful death claims. The medical exceptions may have been intended to address some concerns, but the large negative vote indicates those carveouts did not overcome broader objections.
A BILL for an Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 12.1-16, a new section to chapter 12.1-17, and two new sections to chapter 32-21 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the definition of human being and person as the terms relate to the offenses of murder and assault, and civil actions for death caused by wrongful acts.
A BILL for an Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 15-01, a new section to chapter 21-10, and a new section to chapter 54-11 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to digital asset and precious metal investments.
A BILL for an Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 11-33, a new section to chapter 40-47, a new chapter to title 51, and a new section to chapter 58-03 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to blockchain technology and protection for digital asset mining.
A BILL for an Act to create and enact two new sections to chapter 15-10, a new section to chapter 15.1-09, and a new section to chapter 15.1-21 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to displays of the ten commandments in state educational institutions and public schools.