In the wake of yesterday's supreme court decision upholding the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Act," and given Justice Anthony Kennedy's adoption of the framing of the so-called "pro-life" movement, it was only a matter of time.
The latest from the news wires suggests large Constitutional changes are in the offing.
SALT LAKE CITY--Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UTAH) has proposed what he calls a "3/5 Compromise Amendment," to solve the dual problem of Utah's representation in Congress and the lack of recognition of fetal life in the U.S. Constitution.
Hatch's "3/5 Compromise Amendment" would compel the Bureau of the Census to count 3/5 of all "fetal life" within a given state, and add that figure to the number of persons legally residing in that state. Each state would determine its own definition of "fetal life."
"Just because the founders didn't recognize fetal life in the Constitution is no reason that we should not do so," Hatch said Friday. "I'm a proponent of stem-cell research; I believe in adapting our political structure in light of modern science."
Hatch noted that the "3/5 Compromise Amendment" was one of several amendments contemplated for the Constitution. "For example, there's really no reason that the 14th Amendment shouldn't refer to 'all persons and pre-persons, born, naturalized, or conceived in the United States,'" he said.
Hatch's announcement was greeted warmly in Utah. The state lost a Congressional seat after the 2000 Census, a fact widely attributed to out-of-state missionary activities of many Utah young people. The state of Utah filed a lawsuit against the Census Bureau, protesting the loss of its seat, in 2001.