Supporters Of ‘Personhood Amendment’ Make Case To Mississippi Voters

| Fox News: www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/12/supporters-per…oters

Fresh off a win at the Mississippi Supreme Court, backers of a so-called "Personhood Amendment" are looking forward to making their case to voters.

On Nov. 8, voters across the state will decide whether or not to amend the Mississippi constitution so that in the words of the proposed amendment, "The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization."

A number of pro-choice groups, including the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, sued to keep the initiative off the November ballot. In ruling to allow it, the Mississippi Supreme Court held, "Just as this Court cannot prohibit legislators from offering proposals in the House or Senate, this Court cannot impede voters from submitting proposals through the voter initiative process." The Court did not address the content of the ballot initiative.

Opponents warn that the measure will radically interfere with women’s most personal healthcare decisions. "This measure is harmful to women," Brian Atwood, legal director of the ACLU said.
Atwood characterized the proposed amendment as something that could "severely limit women’s access to birth control, in vitro fertilization and life-saving medical procedures."

Keith Mason, president of Personhood USA, said those claims are simply false.

"We are planning to take these arguments head-on in Mississippi," Mason says. He also argues that many of the groups that oppose measures like the one in Mississippi stand "to profit" from abortion, and that accounts for at least part of their motivation.

Although a similar ballot measure has failed twice in Colorado, Mason is optimistic about success in Mississippi.

"Around 80 percent of the electorate is pro-life," Mason said. "The only way we could see defeat in Mississippi … is if folks just sit at home and do nothing."

Though it was among the losing parties at the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Center for Reproductive Rights believes it will ultimately prevail. It is urging voters to defeat the Personhood Amendment and warning, "This measure should raise all kinds of alarms."

Should voters approve the measure, legal fights are guaranteed and opponents feel confident the content of the amendment will not survive legal scrutiny.

Supporters plan to forge ahead. They hope to have Personhood Amendments on at least a dozen state ballots by Election Day 2012.

#Mississippi #Ballot #Initiative #Personhood #Amendment #YesOn26 #ACLU #Planned #Parenthood #Mississippi #Supreme #Court #Personhood #USA #pro-life #abortion

Lee Co. Supervisors disapprove new state gun law

- WTVA.com: www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Lee-Co-Supervisors-d….cspx

TUPELO, Miss (WTVA) The Lee County Board of Supervisors voted to send a letter to the state legislature voicing its disapproval of a law passed in July. It allows permitted handguns in public places like courthouses.

Lee County deputies already use high-tech scanners to check visitors each day at the Lee County Justice Center.

Since March, there have been over 27,000 visitors to the courthouse. Deputies always carry a firearm at their side to respond to dangerous situations.

‘In the old law, it prohibited weapons from being brought into certain locations such as courthouses, schools and businesses. It was subtitled Section 13. However, this new law allows individuals that have the gun permit and gone through the training that is set forth by the Board of Standards and Training. They are now allowed to bring the weapon into a courthouse," said Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson.

The only place that the guns will not be allowed is the courtroom.

Visitors with gun permits will be given a badge to wear designating they have a weapon. But, Johnson says it’s almost impossible to have an officer in every spot of a huge courthouse.

"What are you going to do? Frisk everybody down that goes into a courtroom. You could possibly use a wand. But you’ve got five or six courtrooms. It could cause a whole lot of problems," said Lee County Attorney Gary Carnathan during the board meeting.

Sheriff Johnson did write the Attorney General to see if they could post a sign at the courthouse saying "no weapons allowed."

According to House Bill 506 the answer is no.

Sheriff Johnson says there has never been an incident at the Lee County Justice Center involing a weapon since the inception of the scanners.

#Mississippi #Gun #Rights #Second #Amendment #Lee #County #Supervisors #AG #HB506

Natchez site of ballot initiative hearings today at 500

Hearing on ballot initiatives coming | The Natchez Democrat: www.natchezdemocrat.com/2011/08/23/hearing-on-ball…oming

Natchez has been pegged as one of nine locations in which the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office will host a public hearing on three issues — eminent domain, voter identification and definition of personhood — that will appear on the November ballot.

A hearing at 5 p.m. Thursday at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in the Nelson Multipurpose Room will allow residents a chance to speak out on the issues.

One initiative would require voter ID at the polls in the state, another would prohibit state and local government from taking private property by eminent domain, and the last measure proposes to define life at”the moment of fertilization” in the state constitution.

#Mississippi #Secretary #of #State #Delbert #Hosemann #Natchez #Southwest #Mississippi #Ballot #Initiatives #Voter #ID #Personhood #Amendment #Eminent #Domain #public #hearings

American Life League defends Mississippi ‘Personhood’ Amendment

| Florida Independent: floridaindependent.com/44581/american-life-league-…sippi

A recent letter to the editor in the Mississippi Sun Herald raised some important questions about so-called”Personhood” amendments like the one that will soon be voted on in Mississippi. In a response, the American Life League dismisses claims that the passage of such an amendment could open the door to unintended consequences.”Personhood” amendments across the country aim to ban abortion but, as some suggest, their passage could mean that women seeking abortions would be put in jail.”If abortion is made a crime then certainly the women who have one are criminals!” wrote reader Elizabeth Claggett, in an Aug. 16 letter to the editor.”States that propose punishing only the physician suggest that women who have one are incapable of making their own decisions or they are &#145victims,’ although they in fact initiated the procedure. Such views are a vestige of the past and have long been discredited. Is the message that women are not to be held accountable for their actions or that the pro-life groups refuse to accept the logical? Any proposal to send women to jail would incite Americans to violent objections.”
In a response, Judie Brown — president of the American Life League — writes that Claggett is”incorrect in her assessment of possible legal fallout” from the passage of the”Personhood” amendment:

Once the state approves the amendment, and it survives a challenge at the Supreme Court level, the state legislature will have to examine how it wants to develop the criminal law that would be put in place to provide legal protections for the child not yet born. Whether or not criminal charges would be assessed for the expectant mother who pays an abortionist for the act itself remains to be seen. However, using the specter of possible criminal penalty to scare Americans into voting against a proposed amendment that would do nothing more than recognize the human rights of persons prior to birth is not only ridiculous but misleading and deceptive. #
The voters of Mississippi deserve the facts, not political rhetoric.

#Mississippi #Ballot #Initiative #Personhood #Amendment #abortion #legislature #pro-life #American #Life #League

Planned Parenthood Chaplain Caught Deceiving Mississippi Voters

Mississippi voters were in an uproar on Wednesday when Planned Parenthood Seattle Chaplain Vincent Lachina was exposed during a Mississippi Secretary of State’s Personhood Amendment hearing.

According to a press release by Yeson26.com, a citizen’s initiative to amend the Mississippi Constitution to define personhood as beginning at fertilization, the deception occurred on August 10 when Lachina addressed a crowd of Mississippi voters. During his address, he claimed to be a Southern Baptist minister, both”prolife and prochoice.”

Sporting a clerical collar, Mississippians listened intently as Lachina shared that he grew up in Jackson and had a Mississippi heritage. Lachina boldly preached an ideology of choice from the pulpit, calling for a”no” vote on prolife Amendment 26, but left out some critical details.

Lachina failed to mention that he is the Washington State Chaplain at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Jacob Dawson, of the American Family Association (AFA), was sitting in the audience and decided to do a Google search of Lachina, having never heard of a Southern Baptist preacher from Mississippi by that name — much less a pro-choice, clerical collar-wearing Southern Baptist Preacher.

Dawson got up before the crowd and stated,”A quick Google search reveals that Mr. Lachina is from Seattle, and is a chaplain for Planned Parenthood.”

The crowd was stunned, and many were outraged at the misrepresentation and deception of Planned Parenthood.

Further research on Mr. Lachina revealed that in addition to being an abortion advocate, he was also a homosexual activist. In a 2007 article appearing in The Advocate, Lachina was quoted as saying:”We gay men don’t need to worry about what the Republicans, the religious right, or homophobes will do to us.”

READ MORE: womenofgrace.com/breaking_news/?p=8906

#Mississippi #Planned #Parenthood #Southern #Baptist #Religion #abortion #Personhood #Amendment #politics #Ballot #Initiative