(CNSNews.com) – The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in a case on Friday that “unborn children are persons with rights that should be protected by law.”

The case involved two women who had been charged  under a “chemical endangerment” law because they had ingested illegal drugs – one, cocaine, and the second, methamphetamine  -- while pregnant.

One woman’s baby tested positive for cocaine when born; the other baby was born prematurely and died shortly thereafter due to “acute methamphetamine intoxication.”

They women appealed their convictions, with their lawyers making numerous arguments but one in particular: that the word “child” did not apply to an unborn child or a fetus.  The Court said otherwise.

In its concluding remarks, the Alabama Supreme Court said:  “The decision of this Court today is in keeping with the widespread legal recognition that unborn children are persons with rights that should be protected by law. Today, the only major area in which unborn children are denied legal protection is abortion, and that denial is only because of the dictates of Roe.”

“Furthermore, the decision in the present cases is consistent with the Declaration of Rights in the Alabama Constitution, which states that ‘all men are equally free and independent; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” said the Court.

After the ruling on Jan. 11, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said, “The court has ratified our argument that the public policy of our state is to protect life, both born and unborn."

"It is a tremendous victory that the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed the value of all life, including those of unborn children whose lives are among the most vulnerable of all," he said.