The Personhood Amendment in the United States, Definition of Personhood

A Personhood Amendment would be the first step in establishing ethical paramenters that protect human dignity in the 21st century.

Definition of Personhood

Personhood amendment is the forbidding of abortions with no exceptions. That is the current definition of personhood.

Personhood Amendment

 

Personhood Amendment is a new and rapidly growing movement within the Pro-Life Community that seeks to establish a legal definition of a person that includes unborn children, thus making killing an unborn child a crime punishable under existing murder laws.

Define Personhood

No Abortion with No Exceptions defines personhood. Personhood basically takes us back to the era prior to 1973, where there were literally no abortions, except in the extreme life of the mother, and there simply No exceptions.

The personhood movement marks a monumental shift in the pro-life legislation of the past 20 years. It strikes at the root of the culture of and discusses life issues in their true context - as the foundation of all civil rights issues. The unborn would be defined as persons, thus giving the protection of the laws that all citizens have.

Define Personhood

To define personhood, it is a state constitution amendment that defines and therefore protects a human person from the beginning of biological conception. The ultimate pro life legislation, with No exceptions.
Person hood bills would define life beginning at fertilization. It would give the right of personhood to that one-celled human being -- thus that person should be protected under the law as all citizens are today.

Two important pro-life objectives would be affected by this amendment to a state Constitution. It establishes and affirms in principle that every state that votes for this amendment is a 'pro-life' state that seeks to protect all human life from its earliest moment of development as a matter of constitutional law; and it provides a direct challenge to the central holding of Roe v. Wade. In the Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that, ‘(If the) suggestion of personhood [of the preborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.’ Thus, the personhood of the preborn child is the single point on which the entire debate turns.

Person Hood Amendment

Person hood is normally one word in the context of the pro life discussion. The adoption of the Person Hood Amendment and its positive pro-life effect is not limited to the issue of abortion, but would restore respect and effective legal protection for ALL human beings from the first moment of biological development until natural death. This would include the elderly, infirm, disabled and all other stages of human dependency and vulnerability. If we fail in our efforts define personhood then the following classes of humans will be at risk in the 21st century and will be labeled:

• Pre-Persons (Preborn)
• Post-Persons (The elderly infirm)
• Non-Persons (infant with disabilities)
• Un-Persons (Human-animal hybrids)

Alabama Personhood Amendment

1. Alabama Personhood Amendment, SB409, would add the following amendment to the Alabama Constitution: "The term person as used in the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof." 2. Alabama Personhood Statute, SB 405, provides: "The term 'persons' as used in the Code of Alabama 1975, shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization or the functional equivalent thereof."

Mississippi Personhood Amendment

The below is what was introduced in the Mississippi legislature.

"Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Mississippi :
SECTION 1. Article III of the constitution of the state of Mississippi is hearby 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.

Passing this amendment could make abortions illegal, and give the unborn protection under existing state laws.

The amendment is known as the personhood amendment. Congressman Broun has introduced Federal Personhood Legislation. It states, "the term 'person' or 'persons' shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof."

South Carolina Personhood Amendment

The “Personhood Act of SC” recognizes the God-given, unalienable right to life of every human being as a legal “person” beginning at fertilization, in South Carolina law.
South Carolina SC Personhood House bill “The right to life for each born and preborn human being vests at fertilization.”
and “The rights guaranteed by Section 3, Article I of the Constitution of this State [SC], that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws, vest at fertilization for each born and preborn human person."

In 2005, the SC Person hood Bill passed the full South Carolina House of Representatives on April 13, 2005 (Second Reading) by a vote of 95-Yeas to 18-Nays, albeit with an exception amended to the bill in cases of pre-born children conceived by the crime of rape. This denial of equal protection for the innocent pre-born child in cases of rape, fatally flawed the legal strategy of the bill (i.e., legal personhood) by failing to establish justice for all pre-birth humans. The fatally flawed bill (H.3213 - www.scstatehouse.gov/sess116_2005-2006/bills/3213.htm) then passed on April 14, 2005 (Third Reading) by a vote of 91-Yeas to 10-Nays, and was sent to the SC Senate, where the bill died in a Judiciary Subcommittee

North Dakota Personhood Amendment

The North Dakota Personhood Amendment allows exceptions, and it has passe the North Dakota House.

The debate over abortion in North Dakota is heating up again. Pro-life and pro-choice groups squared off at the state Capitol Monday. Legislators discussed two bills on the topic. One them could set the stage for a challenge to Roe vs. Wade. Legislators are considering a bill which would define a human being as a member of the human species at every stage of development. Representative Robin Weisz, a Republican from Hurdsfield, the chairman of the House Human Services Committee, said the ramifications could be huge. "It defines a human being as, basically, from conception on, as what we define in code as a human being, and because of that, then, it`s afforded the same protections that any other person is afforded in the State of North Dakota," said Weisz.
Sioux City, Iowa, resident Melissa Ohden travelled to Bismarck to testify in favor of the legislation. The pro-life advocate survived a failed abortion attempt when her biological mother underwent a saline infusion abortion procedure in 1977.
"This bill certainly is about protecting lives of the unborn and declaring that children are human beings from the point of conception," said Ohden. If the bill passes, it could pose a challenge to the longstanding federal Roe vs. Wade decision. "If we can establish that they`re a person before pregnancy, and they`re a person after pregnancy, then it seems, well, it offends reason to say that they`re not a person during that pregnancy," said ND Right to Life executive director Paul Maloney. Pro-choice advocates say the government should leave it to women and their families to make personal medical decisions. ND C.A.U.S.E, an advocacy group for rape and abuse victims, isn`t taking a stance on the abortion issue but they don`t like the legislation. "There is a piece within the legislation that outlines that this section wouldn`t ban use of emergency contraceptives. But for rape and incest victims, we`d need further clarification that it still allows victims to have access to that standard of care," said Janelle Moos, the group`s executive director.

President Ronald Reagan - Supported Pro Life Personhood, With Exceptions

THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death, and I do proclaim, ordain, and declare that I will take care that the Constitution and laws of the United States are faithfully executed for the protection of America's unborn children. Upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. I also proclaim Sunday, January 17, 1988, as a national Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon the citizens of this blessed land to gather on that day in their homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life they enjoy and to reaffirm their commitment to the dignity of every human being and sanctity of every human life.

Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan promote pro life with exceptions.

Anti-Abortion Yard Signs

Return HOME Page Against Abortion