Abhortion for the abolition of abortion
The Index Print
Letters/ Religious-body statement/ 2025

North Dakota Catholic Conference testimony in opposition to HB 1373 (Prenatal Equal Protection Act)

PL-2025-005 · February 5, 2025

Explicit opposition to a tenet Primary source Religious-body statement 7 / 12

Explicit opposition to a tenet. Takes a position directly contrary to an Abolitionists Rising tenet (exceptions, mother-immunity, opposing an abolition bill).

Shortfall type
Explicit opposition to a tenet
Date
February 5, 2025
Lead organization
North Dakota Catholic Conference
Recipient
ND House Human Services Committee
Topic
State equal-protection bill
Type
Religious-body statement
Verification
Primary source
Signature rows
1
Completeness
Single organization
Letter No. 43 of 55 All letters

§ 1 Key language

“The Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. and state constitutions have no relevance to HB 1373” North Dakota Catholic Conference, February 5, 2025

§ 2 Scorecard

Composite 7 of 12 — explicit opposition to a tenet. Each dimension is scored 0 (none), 1 (implied) or 2 (explicit); the rationale column is the editor's one-line reason for every non-zero score.

DimensionScoreMeaning at this scoreRationale
D1 Exceptions 0 None —
D2 Immunity for the mother fault line 2 Explicitly opposes prosecuting or criminalizing women Cites the 2022 open letter against criminalizing women.
D3 Incrementalism 1 By implication — a funding, drug, research, Hyde or Title X letter that takes no abolition position Implied.
D4 Opposition to abolition or equal-protection bills fault line 2 Explicitly opposes or lobbies against one Testified against equal-protection bill.
D5 Framing 1 Implied Legal framing.
D6 Secular framing 1 Mixed — mentions prayer or faith, or mixed religious signers Mixed (Catholic body, legal argument).

§ 3 Spokesperson

1 signature row · Single organization. A single-organization record; the spokesperson row is illustrative, not a signature block.

#Name as printedTitle as printedOrganization as printed
1 Christopher Dodson Executive Director and General Counsel North Dakota Catholic Conference

§ 4 Organizations on this letter

1 distinct organization and 1 named individual, after normalizing renamed and affiliated entities.

Organizations

North Dakota Catholic Conference · Religious body

§ 5 Sources

Letter/statement text read from the organization’s own document.

ndcatholic.org/yourresources/testi…https://ndcatholic.org/yourresources/testimony/2025testimony/2025hb1373house/
Primary source
ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/re…https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/bill-testimony/bt1373.html
Secondary

§ 6 Notes

Organization testimony; the legislative record itself is not the artifact.

Editorial note The rubric records distance from the standard published by Abolitionists Rising, not a moral verdict; every organization scored here regards itself as pro-life. Scores are judgment calls applied consistently by the published rubric; a disagreement is a disagreement with the rubric's conventions, not with an individual cell.