Mississippi Supreme Court Considers Personhood Amendment

For over two years, hundreds of men and women, sons and daughters across our fair state have patiently and prayerfully labored to successfully bring forth the Mississippi Personhood Amendment, Measure No. 26, to its rightful place on the November 8, 2011 general election ballot.

With over 106,000 certified signatures, the first hurdle to offering constitutional protection to the unborn from the earliest stages of life was overcome.

When passed, Measure No. 26 to the Mississippi Constitution would define “person” to include “every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof.”

This simple definition would not only bring the legal definition of personhood into line with what the overwhelming majority of Mississippians already believe, but would also be consistent with current law on crimes against pregnant women and the unborn. The unborn, whether naturally or artificially created, would then have the same legal rights that others already have.

Recognizing the grave threat a favorable Mississippi vote in November poses to the interstate abortion trade, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have sent in their heavy-hitter national litigation team to try to deny Mississippians their right to vote on November 8 and declare that in Mississippi, under God, the unborn are persons, possessed of that same “unalienable right” to life as our Founders recognized in the Declaration of Independence.

This case, the personhood amendment’s second hurdle, is set for oral argument today in the Mississippi Supreme Court. While we will not comment on how the Court might rule, we are confident that the Court appreciates the weightiness of this matter, the popular support it has received, and the serious attention personhood deserves, as we prepare for the general election just five months from now.

As we await the ruling, Vote Yes on 26 will continue to faithfully press ahead, praying that our work to protect the unborn might bear fruit, and that our State of Mississippi might take that first step nationwide to stop abortion and to choose life over death.

Brad Prewitt is executive director of the American Family Association, a pro-family advocacy organization with more than 2.5 million supporters.