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Mississippi - Trying to recapture the good ole dark ages

Today Mississippi voted on an amendment to the state constitution that would define life at the moment of conception its called initiative 26: Initiative 26 would define personhood as "every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof. I don't have to tell you who is behind the initiative with poles showing Mississippi as the most religious state of the fifty with Fundamentalist Baptist leading the way. Governor Haley Barber said he supported the Initiative (with reservations). I was born and raised in Mississippi and I witnessed positive changes like desegregation that brought the state from the post civil war era into the 20th century but if this initiative is passed that takes away a woman's right to choose even if she is raped or through incest will send Mississippi back to the dark ages. What a wonderful world this would be if there were no religion. Click the link below for more info on initiative 26.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/08/us/mississippi-personhood-amendment/i...

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Permalink Reply by John Aultman on November 9, 2011 at 8:18am

Good news... Initiative 26 failed

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Permalink Reply by Richard K. Emms on November 9, 2011 at 8:25am

Right!!

I heard it on the news this morning.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on November 9, 2011 at 8:33am

Really? Wow, I wasn't giving the people of Mississippi enough credit. I guess I had my own prejudices assuming the majority were religious-nuts. Shows me! SO glad it did not pass. How horrible it was even voted on.

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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on November 9, 2011 at 12:47pm

Astronomically good news.

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Permalink Reply by Ashleigh Carter on November 9, 2011 at 1:40pm

O thank the flying spaghetti monster! This really had me worried. Ramen.

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 9, 2011 at 8:49am

Something worth noting in all of this: the "Personhood" issue voted on in Mississippi was the product of a Colorado-based group: Personhood USA. According to today's article in CNN, this organization intends to promote similar measures in the future in Florida, Montana and Ohio.

That Personhood USA has already fallen on their face twice - Mississippi and Colorado - is encouraging, but this is no time to take our collective eyes off the ball. In Ohio there is work proceeding on a "heartbeat" bill, which would require women desiring an abortion to be checked for a fetal heartbeat, such heartbeat being grounds for denying the procedure. These guys want to promote a "culture of life," which sounds far more like a christian fundamentalist culture to me.

Let's not give them the chance to gain ANY GROUND.

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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on November 9, 2011 at 12:48pm

What state is the most pro-life in the country, I wonder? Mississippi is probably pretty up there, and it failed.

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Permalink Reply by John Aultman on November 9, 2011 at 4:13pm

Thanks for the head Loren hopefully the other states will follow Mississippi and Colorado's lead.

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Permalink Reply by Un-Tarded on November 9, 2011 at 10:30am

The bill died this morning 11/08/2011. Good news!

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Permalink Reply by Pat on November 9, 2011 at 10:48am

True, it did not pass. One of the arguments I heard against is that the language of the proposition was so broad, it would have included frozen embryos used in in vitro fertilization The actual language of the bill was

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Mississippi: SECTION 1. Article III of the constitution of the state of Mississippi is hereby amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION TO READ: Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III of the state constitution, "The term 'person' or 'persons' shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof." This initiative shall not require any additional revenue for implementation.

I actually saw an interview with a devout Christian couple who were going to vote against it since they reasoned (correctly) that it would have prohibited them from using science based fertilization methods to actually bring life into the world. Good for the folks in the Magnolia State.