Personhood in One State Would Hurt All Americans
Personhood. The idea that a fertilized egg- far before the scientific definition for conception- has the same rights as an adult human being. Anyone who follows the Reproductive Rights movement, and who reads our blog- has seen that in states that would allow this dangerous idea to become an actual amendment to the state constitution- as extremists are trying to do in Colorado and Montana- could wreak havoc on states’ laws and severely hamper the personal rights guaranteed to families. However, many people don’t realize that the effects of Personhood wouldn’t stop at a state’s borders. In fact, Personhood was designed by anti-choice social fundamentalists to take down Roe and force a draconian ban on reproductive freedoms throughout America.
The idea of Personhood is based in the majority decision released by the Supreme Court in 1973. Written by Justice Harry Blackmun, the Justice in charge of writing the decision, the premise of Personhood concentrates on a “loophole” in the reasoning called the “Blackmun Hole” by Personhood USA. Blackmun wrote that if the fetus could be established as a “person”, then the Fourteenth Amendment would then protect the fetus and Roe would be invalidated. The Fourteenth Amendment was created after the Civil War to abolish slavery and guarantee all Americans “equal protection” under the law. Henceforth, these extremist, anti-choice organizations are concentrating on ballot initiatives and legislation that would amend state Constitutions to say that a fertilized egg- not just a fetus, but a fertilized egg- is a person so that they could then challenge Roe.
Naturally, these anti-choice organizations would rather not foot the bill themselves, so they decided that once the state found itself passing a Personhood Amendment (something that has been so far attempted but the extremists have never been able to convince enough people to actually pass it), the state would then have a direct conflict with Roe v. Wade. A costly, time-consuming, and distracting legal bill would ensue- with the state taxpayers footing the bill and defending a Constitutional Amendment that they don’t necessarily agree with. And, if Roe was defeated, the effects would ripple across America as “trigger bans” (pre-Roe bans on abortion) took over and women found their access to reproductive health care being cut off immediately.
This is why all Americans should be worried about Personhood. Please, help us defeat this dangerous bill that will hurt all American families, not just families in certain states. Click here and sign up now for our Take Action Team to stay up to date on the social fundamentalists’ attacks on personal freedoms.
