Proposed bill aims to ban all abortions in Alaska

A Republican lawmaker in Alaska has proposed a bill that aims to recognize unborn babies as persons and criminalize abortions performed in the state as murder.

Rep. David Eastman (R-Wasilla) recently introduced H.B. 250, also known as the Life at Conception Act, which is intended to bring "state law into conformity with the Constitution of the State of Alaska, which provides that 'all persons have a natural right to life,' 'all persons are equal and entitled to equal rights' and 'all persons are entitled to equal ... protection under the law.'"

According to Life News, the legislation would repeal language from state murder and manslaughter laws that exempt abortions and criminalize the intentional killing of the unborn baby as murder.

Eastman said that his bill would recognize that life begins at conception and would consider the unborn child a resident of Alaska if the mother is a resident of the state.

"Further, that child may not be transported to another state or country for the purpose of taking the life of that child," he added.

Some lawmakers have argued that the bill is unconstitutional, and several lawyers said that it would be overturned by the courts if the measure is passed.

Ryan Fortson, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, said that the outlawing abortion in the state violates both the Alaska Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

"The courts won't allow the Legislature to define how a constitutional provision is being interpreted — that's the job of the courts," he stated.

Eastman's bill also adds a new "interpretation of right to privacy," which says that the Alaska Constitution's privacy rights do not extend to "abortion or any other taking of innocent human life."

Anchorage Democratic Rep. Matt Claman, an attorney who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, stated that "any effort to introduce legislation that tells the Supreme Court how to interpret the Constitution is fundamentally flawed." He cited the 1803 case Marbury vs. Madison, in which the U.S. Supreme Court established the power of the courts' to invalidate laws that violate the Constitution.

Other states have proposed similar measures, but they were struck down in the courts. In 2012, a bill that banned all abortions and recognized unborn babies with a right to life was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

While pro-life advocates look forward to outlawing all abortions, many are opposed to punishing women who terminate their pregnancies. Many are focused instead on holding abortion practitioners criminally accountable for performing the procedure.