Mississippi voters attempt to add ‘personhood’ language to state Constitution – would ban abortion
Mississippi voters are likely to be the first in the nation to add to their state constitution “personhood” language that declares unborn children to be persons, effectively outlawing abortion and setting up a potential Supreme Court showdown — if they get a chance to vote on it in November.
On June 6, the Mississippi Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a pre-emptive court challenge against Measure 26, a ballot question that would define a person as a “human being from the moment of fertilization.”
Personhood bills are seen as a direct attack on Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion a right under the U.S. Constitution. Roe implied that if unborn babies were legal “persons,” they would have a right to life under the 14th Amendment, pro-life groups say.
The Alabama Legislature is considering two personhood bills this month, and at least seven other state legislatures introduced similar bills this year, said Keith Mason, a Christian minister who launched Personhood USA in 2008 with fellow evangelist Cal Zastrow.
Meanwhile, a new book by a Georgia pro-life leader argues that personhood goes beyond abortion and is “the human rights issue of the 21st century.”
“Sanctity of life” handles emerging issues like “destructive stem-cell research,” human cloning and creation of human-animal chimeras, said Daniel Becker, president of Georgia Right to Life and author of “Personhood: A Pragmatic Guide to Prolife Victory in the 21st Century and the Return to First Principles in Politics.”
Just as English abolitionist William Wilberforce realized that the 1800s slave trade couldn’t be “regulated into submission” and he had to take bolder, decisive actions to end it, modern pro-life forces must recognize that they are in a similar historical moment, wrote Mr. Becker.
Georgia’s support of personhood accelerated pro-life victories and led it to become the first state in the nation to endorse personhood in a nonbinding vote. “Delaying a personhood strategy is simply not an option,” said Mr. Becker. “The future waits for no man.”
Pro-choice organizations vigorously denounce personhood measures as absurd and harmful to women’s reproductive freedom.
“Personhood gives fertile eggs the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in its pre-pregnancy state. That is right – pre-pregnancy,” a sarcastic Amy Jacobson of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota wrote this year when the North Dakota House of Representatives passed a personhood bill. It was subsequently tabled in the state Senate.
Abortion foes gather Jan. 24 in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for a rally against the Roe v. Wade decision 38 years ago that legalized abortion. An estimated three dozen members of Congress spoke to the “March for Life” crowd. (Associated Press)
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/21/drive-grows-for-states-to-recognize-personhood/
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