A North Carolina county Monday became the nation’s first sanctuary county “for the unborn” when its board of commissioners passed a resolution recognizing the “dignity of every human being” from conception.

The resolution by the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners made the county the first in the nation to become a sanctuary county for the unborn, although towns and cities have made similar declarations.

Yadkin County is about one hour north of Charlotte and has a population of 37,000. Its county seat is Yadkinville.

“The Yadkin County Board of Commissioners,” the resolution says, “hereby recognizes and declares the full humanity of the preborn child and declares Yadkin 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.”

The resolution further says a plaque will be placed on the grounds of the county government declaring the county to be a “Sanctuary for Pre-born Children.”

It also says the county will organize a public meeting to request input from “citizens, churches, and other social organizations” to determine possible ways “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.”

A Texas town declared itself a Sanctuary City of the Preborn in June. 

At least two other American localities – Roswell, N.M., and Riverton, Utah – voted this year to become sanctuary cities for the unborn.

The movement is part of a Sanctuaries for Life strategy by the Personhood Alliance to help towns and counties “divest from the culture of death and invest in a culture of life,” said Gualberto Garcia Jones, president of the Personhood Alliance.

“The federal government was established to secure our God-given right to life,” Garcia Jones said. “When it refuses to protect this most fundamental right and instead, lends the full force of the government to deny it, the government is violating the Constitution that its officers swore to uphold. Our Sanctuaries for Life initiative seeks to restore law and order by re-establishing and protecting the legal personhood of pre-born children at the local level.”