Our Purposes and Objectives

1. This Association is an organization of people banded together to foster and  to protect the most basic value of society - Human Life.
2. The primary purpose of this Association is to present fully detailed  and factual information upon which individuals and the general public may make an informed decision about the various topics of fetal development, abortion, alternatives to abortion, euthanasia and infanticide by:
   1. Developing and maintaining educational programs regarding  the right to life of every human being which would include the development  of a clear understanding, full appreciation, and sympathetic attitude toward  the fundamental value and dignity of human life at all stages of its development and the right of every human being to the continuation of life.
   2. Developing and maintaining educational programs factually depicting  the growth and development of the unborn child, such programs to be suitable  for children of various ages for use in the school systems as well as adult  programs for use by colleges, universities, civic groups, clubs, organizations  and churches.
   3. Developing and maintaining similar educational programs on the issues of  abortion, abortion alternatives, euthanasia and infanticide.
   4. Providing education materials such as films, books, slides, and pamphlets  to all interested individuals, schools or organizations.
   5. Publishing a state newspaper periodically to provide current information of  recent events related to the aforementioned topics.
   6. Providing information to the general public, and in particular to women who are or may be faced with untimely problem pregnancies, concerning support systems and assistance.
   7. Providing knowledgeable individuals from the fields of law and medicine  to participate in radio and television programs on the above topics. Other purposes shall include, but are not limited to:
   8. Promoting an awareness of current pro-life and anti-life legislation,  and public policy in this regard.
   9. Welcoming all to join its ranks in assuring respect for all stages of life.
   10. Soliciting, receiving, and/or raising funds needed for the accomplishment  of the above purposes of this Association.
3. This Association shall be non-partisan, shall not support any political party,  and shall take no position on matters of government policy other than those relevant to its purpose.
4. This Association is a non-profit, non-sectarian corporation, and no part of the net earnings, contributions, or other property shall incur to the benefit of any member. No officer or director shall be remunerated for his services as an officer or as a member of the Board of Directors

Vision and Positions

Vision Statement

The vision of the North Dakota Right to Life Association is that all vulnerable persons in our society are protected throughout the span of their lives from conception to natural death. It is our vision that all euthanasia and abortion be ended and that every person's attitude and commitment changes to a fervent respect for all innocent human life.

Description and Mission Statement

The North Dakota Right to Life Association has been in existence since May 21, 1971. The Association is governed by a Board of Directors and administered by an Executive Committee. Both bodies are comprised of Association members who serve in a volunteer capacity.

The Association supports paid office staff to carry out the directives of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian, grass roots volunteer organization dedicated to the protection of all innocent human life from conception to natural death.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association works toward its Vision by educating its members and the general public about abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia in a peaceful, factual, and legal manner. The Association works toward its Vision by involvement in the legislative and political action processes as necessary.

Operational Creed

The North Dakota Right to Life Association believes in the sanctity of all innocent human life. However, recognizing the reality of our imperfect society, the Association sees the necessity of working in an incremental fashion to protect as many lives as possible while still striving to achieve its Vision that all euthanasia and abortion be ended.

Abortion Statement

Abortion is any procedure performed with the sole and willful intent to cause the death of the preborn child. Therefore, the North Dakota Right to Life Association opposes abortion in any form or for any reason in keeping with its Operational Creed of working in an incremental fashion.

This position does not oppose medical treatment to save the life of the mother which may result in the unintended death of the baby. The unintended death of the baby is not to be construed as abortion. Medical treatment intended solely to improve the mother's quality of life is not sufficient reason for sacrificing the child's life.

While the Association abhors the violence of rape and incest and sympathizes with its victims, caring for the victim cannot justify killing innocent life.

The Association believes that a human being once conceived has the innate right to life regardless of disabilities or gender.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association opposes the conception of a child for the purpose of harvesting the tissues through induced abortion.

The Association opposes fetal experimentation on living babies from induced abortion which is not beneficial or intended to be beneficial to the subject of the experiments regardless of any benefit to other members of society.

The Association is opposed to any drug or medicine which is capable of and used with the intent of producing abortion. The Association is also opposed to "contraceptives" that are in fact abortifacients.

A father being an equal partner in the conception of a child has the right to protect his child from abortion. While the North Dakota Right to Life Association recognizes that with every right comes responsibility, the focus of this organization is on the protection of life.

The Association believes in alternatives to abortion which encourage women to give birth to their babies. The Association educates women on prenatal development and refers women to appropriate services such as crisis pregnancy centers, Birthright, and adoption agencies. The North Dakota Right to Life Association encourages its members and the public to be involved in pregnancy support services in the state. The Association recognizes the need for services for mother and child; however, the main focus of this Association is to guarantee the basic right to life.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association recognizes Post Abortion Syndrome as being comparable to Post Traumatic Stress disorder (see Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 3 of Diagnostic Psychiatric Association's DSM-III revised edition) which is defined as a delayed response to an abnormal experience. The Association believes the surviving victims of abortion need the support of family, clergy, and community. North Dakota Right to Life works to educate men and women about the abortion experience and its aftermath, and seeks to protect women and their families by working to enact informed consent laws. Members of the Association are involved in support groups to assist the victims of Post Abortion Syndrome.

Position Statement on Adoption

The North Dakota Right to Life Association recognizes that a policy of totally and permanently sealed original birth certificates and other adoption record information could result in some abortions because of the impossibility of that mother ever being able to hope for an eventual meeting with her child.

The Association also recognizes that a policy of open records could likewise result in some abortions because some mothers will not carry their pregnancies to term and place their babies for adoption if they know that their sought-for seal of confidentiality may be broken some day and an unwanted meeting occur.

North Dakota Right to Life believes that a passive, mutual consent, voluntary registry which would be available to the adopted child after twenty-one years of age respects the needs, deep personal wishes, and privacy of all, and will result in fewer abortions.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association endorses and supports the concept of such a registry and opposes either total and permanent sealing of such original birth certificates and records or opening them such as proposed "open record" legislation would do.

In keeping with the Association's belief in alternatives to abortion which encourage women to give birth to their babies, North Dakota Right to Life also supports any reasonable effort to correct abuses in adoption practices while at the same time expediting adoptions.

Position Statement on Welfare Reform

North Dakota Right to Life recognizes that all children conceived have a legitimate right to be born, regardless of the age or marital status of their mother, and has always supported alternatives to abortion and aid to women facing crisis pregnancies. The Association also recognizes that studies have shown that one of the most common reasons women give for seeking abortions is that they "cannot afford a baby now."

Recent proposals for "welfare reform" have included proposals to deny assistance to unmarried teenage mothers and their children and to children born to women already receiving public assistance. North Dakota Right to Life reaffirms its commitment to alternatives to abortion and opposes the denial of assistance to newborn children, who would otherwise qualify for assistance, based on the age, marital status or welfare status of the mother.

Further the Board directs the Executive Director and Executive Committee to take appropriate action to protect women and children from any denial of assistance due to proposed changes in the welfare system.

Position Statement on Euthanasia

Euthanasia is a willful action or an omission by a person or entity which, of itself or by intention, causes the death of another person whose quality of life is considered of lesser value. The North Dakota Right to Life Association rejects the concept of euthanasia as an act of compassion and rejects using "quality of life" as a basis to determine whether life should continue. An example of a willful action would be intentionally causing death by lethal injection or a drug overdose. An example of omission would be failure to treat the respiratory infection of a non-dying individual. The Association recognizes the limitations of medical science and realizes that there is a time when medicine is at an end and death is imminent (one week or less). In this situation North Dakota Right to Life takes the position that ordinary care, such as comfort care, relief of pain, and provision of nutrition and hydration (provided the body can assimilate it) is ethically mandatory for all patients.

North Dakota Right to Life also recognizes the situation of a terminal condition which is defined as an incurable illness or injury (even though death is not imminent) where a reasonable prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case, and the treatment possibilities, would judge that the person would live three months or less regardless of treatment. North Dakota Right to Life does not take a position on medical treatment but would require the continuation of ordinary care as previously defined.

Euthanasia threatens certain categories of people based on a so-called quality of life: the elderly, the incompetent, the disabled and infants. Some conditions which render a person incompetent would be any form of senility, Alzheimer's disease, mental retardation, mental illness, or comatose conditions. It is the position of North Dakota Right to Life that medical treatment and nutrition and hydration must be provided regardless of a person's "quality of life". The Association rejects the withdrawal of care to persons the sole intent of which is to hasten and/or cause death. North Dakota Right to Life believes the presumption of medical treatment should be to protect life and enhance that life as much as possible. In all cases when the body can assimilate nutrition and hydration, every means should be taken to provide it naturally. When necessary, artificial nutrition and hydration must be administered.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association opposes any attempts to legalize passive or active euthanasia.

Position Statement on Assisted Suicide

It is the position of the North Dakota Right to Life Association that to be involved in helping another individual to commit suicide, whether passively or actively, is to aid in causing a person's death. Because the Association believes in the sanctity of human life, it stands in opposition to legalizing assisted suicide by individuals or through state-sanctioned methods.

The Association's belief in the sanctity of life is also extended to those who are suffering physically and/or mentally. The Association believes in alternatives to assisted suicide which encourage people to choose life and not death. The Association encourages its members and the public to be involved in hospice and other services in the state. The medical community is encouraged to be cognizant of and utilize the many means available to relieve suffering.

The North Dakota Right to Life Association believes that the method of or reason for assisting suicide is morally irrelevant and will oppose any efforts to legalize assisted suicide for any class of people and/or by any means.

Position Statement on the Determination of Death

The North Dakota Right to Life Association believes that the North Dakota Uniform Determination of Death Act is flawed because it allows for the determination of death based solely on the function of the brain.

The Association believes that death is the cessation of physical life. The Association believes that death is determined by irreversible cessation of the respiratory system and irreversible cessation of the circulatory system and irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain.

Currently there are thirty different sets of criteria for determining brain death. (Byrne, Paul A. and Evers, Joseph C. "Brain Death - Still a Controversy", Alpha Omega-Alpha Honor Medical Society, 1990) Due to this lack of scientific certitude in determining brain death, the Association asserts that in all cases the presumption should be for life.

Resolution On Human Embryos

We commend President Bush's decision to prevent the federal government from becoming involved in research and experimentation that would require the deliberate destruction of human embryos. In taking this position, the President has acted to save the lives that he could.

We further commend President Bush's strong opposition to all human cloning and to the creation of human embryos for research purposes.

We mourn the lives of those children who were killed to derive the sixty-plus stem cell lines that currently exist. Neither President Bush nor his administration had anything to do with the destruction of those embryos or the establishment of those cell lines. Certainly, if the President could have prevented the death of those embryos, he would have. President Bush has shown his commitment to protecting the lives that he can.

Now, the pro-life movement must focus its energy to stop the efforts in Congress that would require the destruction of human embryos for research purposes.

Position Statement of Stem Cell Research

The North Dakota Right to Life Association opposes the killing of human embryos for stem cell research. The Association recognizes that research on adult stem cells has been shown to be promising or beneficial to many different diseases or disorders, including breast cancer, coronary heart diseaase, congestive heart failure, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, Parkinson's Disease, sickle cell anemia, and spinal cord injuries; and does not require the killing of human lives at their earliest stages of development.

In keeping with the Association's beliefs, the North Dakota Right to Life Association believes stem cell research should only be of the kind that does not require the destruction of human life.

Women and Abortion

The North Dakota Right to Life Association, while acknowledging the reality of our imperfect society, recognizes a woman who has an abortion as the second victim of the abortion holocaust.

Women faced with unexpected pregnancies are often coerced from loved ones who insist that abortion is the best solution. Pressure to do the "right" thing is usually done out of love for the woman with the sincere belief that such care will be appreciated later on. At other times loved ones will push abortion on a woman - not out of concern for her - but out of concern for themselves. This is all done in a culture of lies with a society that too often leaves her alone with her "choice."

The Association encourages compassion, unconditional love, and forgiveness. These should guide our response to the woman who has an abortion. This in turn gives her hope and healing.

Comprehensive School-Based Health Clinics

The North Dakota Right to Life Association recognizes the lack of health care services for teens in some geographic areas. Because the main focus of this Association is to guarantee the basic right to life, the Association opposes the establishment of in-school comprehensive health clinics as a solution. These clinics historically have been used to encourage and/or procure abortion among junior and senior high students. Furthermore, school-based clinics receiving federal funding are bound to confidentiality which excludes parental involvement and circumvents parental consent laws.

The Association believes in alternatives to school-based clinics and encourages students facing unplanned pregnancies to make use of the services of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, Birthright, and adoption agencies.