Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would amend the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to establish human dignity as a Constitutional right. Foundational principles of human dignity can be found throughout history, including within the establishment United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights.  

 

A number of nations have instituted human dignity Constitutional protections in response to atrocities that have occurred within their borders. For example, Article I of Germany’s Constitution acknowledges the country’s Holocaust by stating, “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.” 

 

Another example can be found within the South African Constitution, which states in its first article that South Africa is a country founded on the value of human dignity and, in section 10, recognizes its universality and everyone’s right “to have his or her dignity respected and protected.” 

 

In the aftermath of its bleakest atrocity, the United States took a different approach. Following the abolition of slavery, efforts to protect Black and Brown individuals focused on civil rights. While these efforts coalesced into one of the most powerful movements in our country’s history, a standard of human dignity has not been established to guide the lawmaking process. 

 

The states of Illinois, Louisiana, and Montana explicitly reference human dignity within their respective Constitutions. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to elevate human dignity to its rightful place within Pennsylvania’s Constitution.