Initiative 26: life-threatening proposition for Mississippi women

[RyanPsych]

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The legality of abortion has remained a hot topic in American politics since the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973, which upheld the right of a woman to have an abortion. This ruling has since been hailed by proponents of women's rights and reproductive freedom as a cornerstone ruling, while decried by its religious opponents and used as a political wedge issue by the right wing. However, in recent years, opposition to this ruling, and the rights it guarantees, has become increasingly active. The most recent incarnation of this opposition is the "personhood" initiatives, which have dire consequences for women.

Since riding into power in the House of Representatives, and many state legislatures, with a battle cry of "jobs, jobs, jobs," the Republican Party has instead introduced, debated, and in some cases passed, literally hundreds of bills or amendments related to abortion and abortion rights. This ranged from cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood (which provides the majority of its health care services outside of abortion) in Indiana, to requiring a mother to listen to a sonogram of her fetus's heartbeat prior to any abortion in Texas. And in South Dakota, Republicans have tripled the waiting period for receiving an abortion, from 24 hours to 72, an unnecessary hardship for women living in the mostly rural state. In addition, it forces women to receive "abortion counseling," which is a euphemism for religious "pro-life" lecturing.

However, all of these pale in comparison to the "personhood" initiative being pushed in Mississippi. Personhood USA, an extremist Christian anti-abortion organization, is pushing Initiative 26 which would amend the state constitution to say that legal personhood begins the moment an egg is fertilized by a sperm. Having tried this route twice unsuccessfully in Colorado, this group turned to Mississippi, likely due to it being a highly conservative and religious area that not surprisingly happens to be plagued by a terrible education record.

This personhood initiative has many unintended, and some intended, consequences that have the potential to be horrific for the women of Mississippi.

read more at: http://www.peoplesworld.org/initiative-26-life-threatening-proposition-for-mississippi-women/

[left coaster]

1. OUTRAGEOUS! nt

[Ship of Fools]

2. No words to express my anger. Throwing beer bottles against the barn walls

is barely doing it for me anymore. :grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

[atreides1]

3. So many Right Wing Christians...

...So few Lions.:evilgrin:

[dtexdem]

4. And this one is even opposed by the Catholic Church.

The Church thinks it will detract from its own anti-choice efforts.

But then the Church doesn't even have a position on when personhood (which it sees as having a soul) starts.

[blkmusclmachine]

5. The GOP wants to take this Country back to the early 1800's:

And too many of our so-called "Democrats" want to meet them 98% of the way and call it a "win." How do we fight this $hit?

[47of74]

6. 98%

Try 103% or 105% of the way.