Thursday, November 03, 2011

A Definitive Article on Mississippi's Initiative 26

It was at this point that I intended to feature a Mother Jones article on what the implications of Initiative 26 would be in respect to birth control. However, thanks to a dear reader I can put before you a far more definitive source, not just on the subject of birth control, but of the implications as a whole that this bizarre and extreme proposal would conjure up.

Vote No on 26, Mississippi - Here is why

On November 8th, 2011 in the General Election for Mississippi, there will be three Ballot Initiatives to vote on. 26 - to redefine "person" in our constitution, 27 - to require voter ID (ie disenfranchise voters) and 31 - to restrict the use of eminent domain. The full, actual text of 26 is below. Vote No on 26, Mississippi!

I've put a lot of thought into this initiative. I've tried to keep this updated with the most recent developments. There is a lot of information, so please bear with me and read this through. Where I have supporting documentation, there are links within the text that are blue and underlined.

First, a video.

Rather than embed the video in question, a video I might add, that by its (simple) nature is reminiscent of another, simple message for simple people, that featured many years ago in the next door state of Alabama. But this is but a digression.

No, rather than the featured video, have a look at this one, again linked from the article, but one I would have thought that gives a far starker warning to just what 'Personhood' actually means in real terms in the States that have already enacted this legislation.

The intrusion, by hospitals, prosecutors and law enforcement is absolutely staggering, so much so that I had to replay the clip again to have it confirmed that such nightmare scenarios had indeed come to pass.

Of all the clips that I have ever watched that warn of the effects of religious extremism, nothing but nothing comes close to this one. And this I remind you, is in a country where having a social conscience (socialism) is seen as one step removed from the totalitarianism of a Stalinist state.

I don't know what analogy would best describe what is depicted in these few short minutes, but whatever anyone might choose, they would have to end in, totalitarian state.

The events that are happening in these states is truly frightening, so much so, viewing of this clip should be made mandatory.





The "Personhood" initiative only defines the word "person" in the Mississippi constitution as "every human being from the moment of fertilization." If you think this is an anti-abortion bill, think again. It says nothing about outlawing abortion. It says nothing about outlawing the morning after pill. It says nothing about anything else. All results of the bill will have to be figured out by the police arresting people and the courts deciding what the change to the definition of person means. It might not even outlaw abortion. It might have lots of other, perhaps unintended, consequences.

For instance :

Birth control pills and IUD pregnancy prevention methods would be outlawed by the 'personhood amendment' (because they prevent a fertilized egg - which would instantly become a fully legal 'person' - from attaching to the uterine wall as a rare third stage effect, but it still happens), further increasing these numbers. The "yes" group claims otherwise, even though their own board member, Dr. McMillan says, "I painfully agree that birth control pills do in fact cause abortions." (see the 'lies exposed' link further down for more details)

I have come to believe that the wording of i26 actually targets IVF to put it out of business.


Drinking and smoking during pregnancy would go from just being risky to becoming criminal negligence. Women who have miscarriages would have to endure investigation for possible criminal charges, from negligence up to and including murder. You think not? There is already legal precedent - 15 year old Rennie Gibbs was charged in Mississippi with Depraved Heart Murder in December, 2006 after a miscarriage. (see pregnant women who lose babies face murder charges

A commitment to pre-embryonic personhood would require us to investigate these miscarriages to ensure that no foul play was involved in the loss of these persons. This does not necessarily mean that all women experiencing miscarriages would be prosecuted; however, our legal framework requires an investigation when there has been a loss of life.
26 leaves no exception for rape. more


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Physicians and medical associations are now speaking out against Mississippi’s personhood amendment, warning that it is "a dangerous intrusion of criminal law into the provision of medical care." http://bit.ly/tWOBN9

Comment Victoria Lamb Hatch:

"And the irony is that if a pregnancy endangers a mother's life, and the mother dies because no one intervened, the baby dies with her."

"This is further proof that this law has nothing to do with saving babies. It's to punish women for having sex."

Dan Brown said...

Passage of this measure would be a disaster for all of society, and women more than men. Personal freedom, privacy, health, the economy; all of it would be damaged badly.

But it does clearly exclude corporations from the definition of persons, which is a good thing.

So what they needed was an amendment that defined persons as humans and stopped right there without mention of fertilization, cloning, etc. That way persons would all be people and the people would be free to lead their own lives as they see fit.

Himself said...

Speaking as a European, for the most part I find all this too ridiculous for words, until that is, you give yourself a slap up the side of the head and tell yourself, these people are for real!

But as they are real, equally they are insane. Great swathes of the population are afflicted with religious insanity where reason and common sense have no part to play.

I honestly don't know what the answer is to these Zealots. How do you get through to people that put rational thought in a pickle jar and make a two thousand year old book of mythology the handbook for life in the twenty first century?

Anonymous said...

Mississippi Voters Reject Anti-Abortion Initiative. http://bit.ly/rvIG1z

"Even in a conservative state, tonight's vote reaffirms that people do not want government intruding in personal decisions best made by a woman, her family and her doctor," said Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil Liberties Union reproductive freedom project.

Himself said...

'conservative state' A polite way of saying backward.

What do you make of this?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/08/pox_party/

Anonymous said...

Doctors and medical experts are concerned about a new trend taking place on Facebook. Parents are trading live viruses through the mail in order to infect their children. http://bit.ly/usaGkf

"Has it never occurred to these parents that there are evil people out there who might send worse things than Varicella to their children? They have no real idea what they are giving their children. I would be terrified to try this." (Dorene Luther)

The chickenpox vaccine is not part of the NL childhood vaccination programme, because chickenpox is usually a mild illness.
Perhaps the fear over chickenpox is part of the problem in America.

And I am terrified by parents who post where they live to ask complete strangers things 'on behalf of' their children.