SANCTUARY CITY SAMPLE RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION NO. _________
RESOLUTION OF THE (____) COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, DECLARING THE COUNTY OF (____), NORTH CAROLINA TO BE A SANCTUARY FOR LIFE AND URGING THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY OF (____) TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND THE INALIENABLE RIGHT TO LIFE AND THE INHERENT DIGNITY OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS, INCLUDING THE PRE-BORN, FROM CONCEPTION OR FERTILIZATION THROUGH ALL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT.
WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence affirms that all men are created equal and have
been endowed by the Creator with unalienable rights— chief among them the right to life— and that the protection of these rights is an affirmative duty of federal, state, and local governments; and
WHEREAS, James Madison, who is considered to be the father of the constitution, wrote that "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands...may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny;" and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has abused its proper function of judicial review and supplanted it with the unconstitutional theory judicial supremacy in order to legislate and impose its policy preferences upon the people; and
WHEREAS, the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution provide for the protection of human life and liberty; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States in Poelker v. Doe (432 US 519, 1977) concluded that "the Constitution does not forbid a State or city, pursuant to democratic processes, from expressing a preference for normal childbirth" instead of abortion; and
WHEREAS, state police power derives from the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gives states the powers "not delegated to the United States;" and
WHEREAS, the power to establish and enforce laws protecting the welfare, safety, and health of the public is a core function of the state's Tenth Amendment police power; and
WHEREAS, Section I of the Constitution of North Carolina states that "all persons are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness"; and
WHEREAS, this County Board of Commissioners desires to express its deep concern that all human beings, at every stage of development, including before birth, in the county of (____) should be afforded protection from acts of cruelty, and be treated humanely and with dignity.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
Section 1. The (____) County Board of Commissioners hereby recognizes and declares the full humanity of the preborn child and declares (____) county to be a sanctuary for the preborn where the dignity of every human being will be defended and promoted from conception or fertilization through all stages of development.
Section 2. The (____) County Board of Commissioners hereby resolves to enforce this resolution by all means within its power, in accordance with its responsibility as the people's elected local representatives.
Section 3. Based upon the desire to be recognized as a sanctuary county for life, the (____) County Board of Commissioners shall arrange for the placement of a suitable commemorative plaque on the grounds of the county government declaring the County of (____) to be a "Sanctuary for Pre-born Children."
Section 4. Based upon this resolution, the (____) County Board of Commissioners will organize a public meeting to request input from citizens, churches, and other social organizations to determine possible measures to be adopted within the means and power of the county in order to provide support for mothers and fathers of pre-born children and to become a county that truly welcomes and protects the gift of life from conception or fertilization through all stages of development.