Mississippi Personhood Amendment

First of all, this isn't about the unborn. If the people behind this amendment were as concerned about "life" as they claim, they would work to ensure that women had access to family planning services and birth control. Every child would planned for, wanted, and cared for by a parent prepared to meet the challenges and responsibilities of rearing him/her, and abortion would be, in the words of iirc Bill Clinton, "safe, legal, and rare."

But the purpose of this amendment is to control women's bodies, strip away their personhood and relegate them to the status of ambulatory incubators. My mother worked in Catholic hospitals for much her of adult life, and in many of them the unwritten rule was that if the doctor needed to choose between saving the life of the mother or that of the baby, the baby won. Her mother, who bore ten children and lost several more, was accused after one miscarriage of having fallen deliberately in order to induce. She would not have been treated but for the fact that her doctor stepped in and defended her. Ponder for a moment what might have happened if he hadn't done so. Ponder for another moment a country where this sort of defense becomes the standard, the only thing standing between a woman who has just miscarried and a criminal charge.

And you can bet your bottom dollar that the wives/daughters of the people pushing this law will always have access to whatever is needed to prevent or end a pregnancy. This amendment will only affect women who lack the resources to protect their rights.

**************
Originally posted by james_nicoll at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Originally posted by soldiergrrrl at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Originally posted by twbasketcaseat Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Originally posted by gabrielleabelleat Mississippi Personhood Amendment

Okay, so I don't usually do this, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is getting very little no attention in the mainstream media.

Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.

Putting aside the contentious issue of abortion, this would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.

Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.

What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.

The reason I'm posting this here is because I made a meager donation to the Jackson Women's Health Organization this morning, and I received a personal email back hours later - on a Sunday - thanking me and noting that I'm one of the first "outside" people to contribute.

So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. My RSS reader is near silent on this amendment. I only found out about it through a feminist blog. The mainstream media is not reporting on it.

If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.

What to do?

- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.

- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.

- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of our representatives aren't speaking out against this.

- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.