Last week brought several changes to the state-by-state personhood map.
Most notably, the North Dakota Senate passed both SCR-4009 and SB-2303. Both bills will now go to the House, where SCR-4009 is expected to pass easily and put a personhood measure on the November 2014 ballot in North Dakota. SB-2303 could potentially be amended in the House and forced to go through the conference process. However, at this time, our expectation is that the bill will pass the House and become law, making North Dakota the first state to pass personhood.
A new personhood bill was filed in Alabama, specifying that the term “person” in Alabama law applies to “all human beings resulting from the union of the male sperm with the female egg either from sexual intercourse or in the case of in vitro fertilization, the fertilized egg or eggs relied on by a physician for implantation in the uterus”. Alabama had a contentious personhood bill in 2011 and a bill which did not advance in 2012, so it’s unknown at this time whether SB-205 will progress.
In Iowa, new personhood bill HF-171 joined HF-138. Iowa has had personhood bills for several years, but they have not previously advanced in the Democratically-controlled Senate. The deadline for advancement is March 8.
Kansas legislators filed a proposed ballot initiative as well as an omnibus abortion bill which contains personhood language. While Kansas law contains some explicit protection for IVF and contraception, the language of HB-2253 is concerning. HB-2253 is a revision of a bill which failed in the 2012 session, and has been the subject of much debate. The bills have until April 5 to pass out of committee and advance.
Meanwhile, Washington’s HB-1259 failed to pass out of committee and died. Montana’s bill appears poised to die as well. It must be passed out of committee and passed by the full House by February 28. Since the bill has not even been fully drafted or formally introduced, it’s unlikely to meet its calendar deadlines.
Oklahoma is also facing a key deadline this week, as personhood bills HB-1025 and HB-1029 must be passed out of committee by Thursday the 28th. Neither bill is listed on the committee agenda at this time, but scheduling is entirely up to the committee chair.
UPDATE 2/26: In the Oklahoma legislature, a committee substitute attempted to insert personhood language into another bill, but the language was subsequently removed. The Public Health Committee will not meet again, and HB-1025 and HB-1029 are now presumed dead for the session. However, it’s always possible that other legislation could be amended from the floor to contain personhood language.
