Mississippi Voters Reject Personhood Amendment.

[mixiboi]

For a second there I thought this was going to be a hell....


Mississippi voters rejected an amendment to the state constitution that defined life as beginning at the moment of conception, CNN projects based on reported results.

The measure would have made it impossible to get an abortion in the state and hampered the ability to get the morning-after pill or birth control pills that destroy fertilized eggs.

Disposing of unused fertilized eggs could also have become illegal, making in vitro fertilization treatments more difficult. The measure could have led to a nationwide debate about women's rights and abortion while setting up a possible challenge to the landmark Roe v. Wade case, which makes abortion legal.

Mississippi voting on 'personhood' amendment - CNN.com

The ballot initiative is part of a national campaign brought by Personhood USA. The Colorado-based group describes itself as a nonprofit Christian ministry that "serves the pro-life community by assisting local groups to initiate citizen, legislative, and political action focusing on the ultimate goal of the pro-life movement: personhood rights for all innocent humans."

The idea for personhood was born during Roe v. Wade's oral arguments, when Justice Potter Stewart said, "If it were established that an unborn fetus is a person, you would have an impossible case here." Now, Personhood USA is trying to use the amendment to establish "personhood" as a direct challenge to the Roe v. Wade ruling.

The initiative has been gaining support across many demographics, according to polls in the state suggesting that it will probably pass.

The Mississippi State Medical Association and Doctors Against MS 26 are voicing concern about implications for the health care of women as well as their ability to practice medicine.
Clergy and church officials in the heavily religious state are split on the issue. Some anti-abortion religious groups say they think this step may be so extreme, it could lead to a Supreme Court ruling that actually strengthens Roe v. Wade.

The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor have both said they are behind the amendment, and Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, has said he would enforce the measure if it passed.

Which is why I was worried, but luckily, that was just all talk....But I love this gem:


"In Mississippi, we have the opportunity to lead the way on a social justice issue," Terri Herring, the national director for the Pro-Life America network and an advisory board member for Yes on 26, said. "We may have been behind on civil rights, but we can be ahead on human rights, and that's what personhood is really all about."

and This:


"Whether or not you believe life begins at conception, this amendment goes too far," Cristen Hemmins, a mother from Oxford, said. "It is too ambiguous. It seems so obvious to me that it is far-reaching and it is going to be big government getting all up in my uterus."

[geoffrobinson]

and This:

I haven't seen the pro-choice movement try to give a good account of when personhood begins. The desire to snuff out inconvenient life seems to trump doing that.