New 2013 Personhood Amendment Initiative Announced in Mississippi
Here we go again:
The "Life at Conception Citizen's Initiative" was announced today in a press conference call with Personhood USA Communications Director Jennifer Mason. The Life at Conception Citizens Initiative is the followup to 2011's failed Personhood Amendment, also known as Initiative 26. The new amendment is improved and "based on science and technology," according to Les Riley of Personhood Mississippi. The text of the amendment is as follows:
"Be it enacted by the people of the state of Mississippi: Article 14 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is hereby amended by the addition of a new section to read . . . The right to life begins at conception. All human beings at every stage of development are uniquely created in the image of God and shall enjoy the inalienable right to life as persons under the law."
According to Steve Crampton, Constitutional Attorney for the Liberty Council, the new Mississippi Personhood Amendment "does little more than recognize that life is created at conception." Personhood USA said that the initiative won't ban in-vitro fertilization or contraception, pre-empting arguments they expect from opponents.
However, Mason said in response to a press question, "what that means with in-vitro [is that] if that baby is created, that baby should not be killed." She said the amendment would outlaw in-vitro practices that involve the use of multiple fertilized eggs, wherein multiple eggs are fertilized to increase the chances of a pregnancy resulting. Doctors, she said, "would be cautious and not put quite so many [fertilized eggs] in there." The amendment would mean that the number of fertilized eggs would be limited to "just the number of babies that a woman is comfortable with being pregnant with."
More: http://www.deepsouthprogressive.com/2013/03/new-miss-personhood-amendment-announced.html