S. 1456Senate115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

Sanctity of Human Life Act

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 4:41 PM UTC

The Sanctity of Human Life Act declares that a human being’s right to life begins at fertilization, cloning, or an equivalent process, granting full constitutional personhood from that point onward. It states that this right is the most fundamental and that Congress, states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories have authority to protect these lives. The bill would affect embryos, cloned embryos, and any legal matters involving their status, such as abortion or reproductive technologies.

Key Provisions

Declares that the right to life is vested in each human being and begins at fertilization, cloning, or a functional equivalent, granting full constitutional attributes of personhood.
Provides definitions for “fertilization” (sperm‑egg union creating a zygote) and “cloning” (somatic cell nuclear transfer creating a human embryo).
States that Congress, each state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories have authority to protect the lives of all human beings residing in their jurisdictions.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

June 28, 2017

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

June 28, 2017

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

June 28, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued June 28, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1456

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 28, 2017

Mr. Strange introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Sanctity of Human Life Act.

Declaration

In the exercise of the powers of the Congress, including Congress’ power under article I, section 8 of the Constitution, to make necessary and proper laws, and Congress’ power under section 5 of the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States—

(1)

the Congress declares that—

(A)

the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being, and is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person; and

(B)

the life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, irrespective of sex, health, function or disability, defect, stage of biological development, or condition of dependency, at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood; and

(2)

the Congress affirms that the Congress, each State, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories have the authority to protect the lives of all human beings residing in its respective jurisdictions.

Definitions

For purposes of this Act:

(1)

Fertilization

The term fertilization means the process of a human spermatozoan penetrating the cell membrane of a human oocyte to create a human zygote, a one-celled human embryo, which is a new unique human being.

(2)

Cloning

The term cloning means the process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, that combines an enucleated egg and the nucleus of a somatic cell to make a human embryo.

(3)

Human; human being

The terms human and human being include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, beginning with the earliest stage of development, created by the process of fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent.