Mississippi Personhood Amendment

[xifeng]

Sticking my head up for about five seconds of political action. Regardless of how you feel about abortion, there are ramifications to this bill that NO sensible person would agree with. Also, as a gentle reminder: This topic is not open for discussion or debate on my journal, because I am the Iron Shôgun of this LJ account and, as a female-bodied person who does not want children (GASP, I AM A CRIME AGAINST NATURE) and has remained committed to never reproducing, this is a subject I feel very strongly about. If your views and mine don't mesh, that's fine--that is, after all, part of this thing we call life--but COMMENTS IN ALL CAPS with abuse of exclamation points!!!!!!!! that are mostly about PWECIOUS BAYBEEZ and OMG THEY'RE BEING SLAUGHTERED will get you kickbanned. So comments are screened. This usually means people will behave better than I think they will, but just in case, don't let me down.

Also: I was going to wait until my next physical to start the process of being sterilized (a procedure I would have chosen regardless of political currents, because it's something I've always wanted), just to make sure that everything comes back all right, but I may reconsider that now.


Originally posted by gabrielleabelle at 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.

A miscarriage is already a horrible, devastating experience for the women who undergo them. My mother still remembers where she was and what she was doing when she lost the pregnancy that came between me and X-chan. Apparently, this amendment is designed to make it even more horrible and devastating--don't miscarry in Mississippi, or you could be the subject of a criminal investigation!

I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, a genetically transmitted endocrine and reproductive disorder. I rely on hormonal birth control to replace the hormones that my body does not, of its own volition, produce in sufficient quantities. Without medication, I do not produce enough estrogen to have menstrual periods...which, in turn, would increase my risk of uterine cancer, since the endometrium builds up but is not being shed normally. I am not the only woman I know with this condition, and I'm certainly not the only one in this boat. Should I face criminal penalties because I have a medical need to use contraceptives? Should thousands of women like me?

Ectopic pregnancies are life-threatening to women who suffer them, and the zygote cannot be said to be alive in any meaningful sense--90% of all ectopic zygotes NEVER HAVE A HEARTBEAT. Should a woman suffering a life-threatening AND NONVIABLE pregnancy be denied treatment because the parasite inside her Fallopian tube is, legally, as much a "person" as she is?

I'm not even going to get into rape and incest victims.

Comments

[daturabelle.livejournal.com]

wow.
just wow.
i can't believe something like that could actually be passed. what century does mississippi want to live in?
those possible scenarios are just scary. it's a bunch of extremist pro-lifers that unfortunately seem to have huge sway.
another point that wasn't mentioned is the spread of STDs because of condoms not being allowed, being a form on birth control and all...
that this might happen is simply frightening.
keep us posted?

[serena-b.livejournal.com]

I also am a female who vowed never to birth children. Mostly because it's gross and it involves lots of doctor visits. And at the end of it you're stuck with a kid for the rest of your life. Not that I dislike kids. I just realize my limitations when it comes to being a responsible adult.

I'm not for people getting abortions say, as a form of birth control. Like, people should effing use birth control so they won't have to get abortions. But if it comes to that, I'm not against abortion. People should just learn to be more responsible in the first place. And there are plenty of actual legit reasons to get abortions too.

And I hate it when some Christians promote the whole the Bible said to multiply bullcrap and use that as meaning Birth Control=Evil!!!! Hello, have *seen* what multiplying has done to China and India? Idiots.

And it just fires me up when I think about the ProLife people because most of them are the same people that cheered for Rick Perry because Texas had so many executions. I mean, either you're for life, *all life*, or you're against killing people, period! It boggles my mind.

Anyway. Sorry. Didn't mean to vent on your post.

[samanosukesgirl.livejournal.com]

My Mother had a miscarriage between my brother and I.

No sane person would ever criminalize women who miscarry. What the hell are they thinking? Having a miscarriage is not a crime.

I'm still on the fence with my PCOS. I haven't had a boyfriend yet, and the day I do..

[forgottensanity.livejournal.com]

WTH. Sometimes I don't get people's thought processes at all. Why are these people even allowed to run around freely? Aren't there institutions for the criminally insane?

If I were running the country, this entire discussion would be closed by now. Then again, I'm a dictator. :-)

[simplypeachy.livejournal.com]

My god, this is flabbergasting. I always use Bill Hicks' joke of "if you're not in my phone book, you're not a person" to poke fun at braindead pro-lifers but...considering eggs people? Are the people working in the Mississippi political machine all ignorant, feckless men?

Is there something being misunderstood in this bill? Is it actually saying nothing of the sort, which is resulting in the lack of press?

[nyxocity.livejournal.com]

Then you will be happy to hear this:

"Mississippi's personhood ballot measure, which gives full rights as a citizen to a fertilized egg is completely unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has held over and over in recent years as part of the stem cell debate that fertilized eggs are not people. Multicell blastocysts are not people. The state of Mississippi has no authority to alter this in any way, and the law will be held unconstitutional immediately."

This is a scare tactic to distract Democrats from other missions we should be focusing on and to increase Republican turn out at the 2012 election.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I am delighted to hear this. Indiana's own far-less restrictive (but still pretty bad) law was declared unconstitutional as well. Thank God for the Supreme Court... (Nonetheless, there lives in me the kernel of fear that my rights will be lost if I don't fight for them.)

Not being a Democrat, the possibility of a scare tactic never occurred to me (there are all kinds of whackjobs out there).

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

In answer to your question re: ignorant, feckless men, Y YES! Or such is my understanding. I admit that I'm an evil, godless Yankee who likes to snap on the South, though. (The fact of it being Mississippi, not exactly a bastion of wealth or education, may have something to do with the lack of coverage...)

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

There are, but you can't just confine somebody for being criminally insane; they have to actually do something first (ftr, insanity is a very hard defense to prove here). A lot of the abortion laws in the US are less about abortion and more about controlling women's bodies and punishing us for having sex. (Also, a lot of American pro-lifers are not just against abortion, which I can see logical reasons for even though I disagree profoundly, but against contraception and accurate sex education, which boggles the mind, as these have been shown to reduce the abortion rate. People like me would like to see fewer abortions too!)

Likewise. Also I would be a Communist dictator and the entire area in which I live would suddenly be forced to grow a work ethic. :D

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I know, and a lot of initiatives like this have seemed designed to make it even worse (especially since a.) about 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and b.) it's not uncommon for a woman to miscarry so early that she didn't know she was pregnant yet).

I have had boyfriends, and my life is and will remain a strict No-Brats Zone. Your mileage, however, may vary :D

[samanosukesgirl.livejournal.com]

I WANT to be happy, have more self-confidence, and having my ovaries removed will help; but I'm still single!! If my eggs can be frozen, then I might consider getting the operation. Adoption is in the cards, too. I do think of others more than I think of myself, so yes. I'm thinking of HIM first.

But he may not want to have kids, either, and I have no problems with that. I'm still on the fence with that, too. It's just that I don't want to have my kids have any type of mental illnesses like myself.

I'M 31 HERE. I AM NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER. AND MENOPAUSE STARTS EARLY IN MY FAMILY!! I have all that from my Mother's side. Dad's side is the shyness and shortness.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It is gross, and there are a lot of doctor visits and you're stuck with a kid. Also, I hate children and for that reason alone should not be having any. Doesn't break my heart!

I agree with you that people should use birth control, but it can fail, and I don't think someone who attempted to prevent conception should be punished by not being able to terminate a pregnancy that she didn't want. I've always been excruciatingly careful when I've had male partners, and I've still been afraid even when there was no logical reason to be. (I'm irregular, thanks to the PCOS and the Depo, and I can't rely on my period to know whether all is well or not.) IMO, any reason for an abortion is legitimate--I don't know other people's stories, and I can't judge them.

I am not a Christian, so God wasn't talking to me :D But yeah, my beef is that a lot of pro-lifers are also against contraception and accurate sex education...both of which have been shown to REDUCE the number of abortions. Hello? Even pro-choicers like me would like to see fewer abortions! Just because I don't want it criminalized doesn't mean I think it's the best thing ever and everyone should go have one.

As far as I'm concerned, the pro-life movement lost when someone picked up a gun. I know that isn't everyone on that side of the debate, or even most of them, but...yeah, make a good stab at practicing what you preach, dude.

Heh, no harm done. It's a subject that stirs strong feelings.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It may be passed (it is expected to be, at any rate), but if it is, it will likely be overturned (cf. Nyx's comment below), which is at least some comfort. Indiana's own far-less-horrible (but still really bad, and yes I did write nasty letters to the Indiana House) bill was ruled unconstitutional as well, thank God.

Further bulletins as events warrant~

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that was something you were seriously considering. Yikes. I am likely gunning for a hysterectomy down the road, as both my mother and one of her sisters have had one and I got the PCOS from her side of the family, but in my case there's no reason to consider it yet.

Unfortunately, what illnesses your kids will and won't have is really not something you can call :\

YOU ARE HARDLY A FEEBLE OLD WOMAN, EITHER!