Pondering Personhood

The results are in, and the amendment that was on the ballot yesterday in Mississippi, defining "personhood" from the moment of fertilization failed, by a 58 to 42% margin.   While this is the second state where such an amendment has failed, the margin was much closer than in Colorado, where a similar measure has been defeated twice.

For many, this is a strong statement about the sanctify of life, and the whole process helped people to consider their view of the unborn.   A number of pro-life, pro-family organizations, including Family Research Council, Liberty Counsel, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and the Mississippi Baptist Convention, supported the measure.  Filmmakers gave their support, such as Jon and Andy Erwin of "October Baby", which was brought into theaters by the American Family Association to support the personhood vote, and Ray Comfort, whose ministry sent out 600,000 e-mails with a link to his provocative video, "180", depicting people changing their minds on abortion.   One tweet this morning basically described "personhood" as a new civil rights movement. 

But, as we experienced even in Alabama when a personhood measure was being considered by the Legislature, and in Mississippi and other states, there is a significant number of pro-life individuals and some pro-life organizations that are not on board with such an amendment.   National Right to Life and American Life League are two of those.   There are some that would fear unintended consequences, such as the case of a pregnant mother whose life is in danger and a pregnancy is terminated...would there be legal ramifications in that situation?    Some opponents believe that the amendment would be certain to be struck down as unconstitutional, and fear that if such a case were to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court  that it would not be strong enough for the justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, therefore strengthening that decision.   A number of pro-life advocates fear sending strong pro-life measures to the court system because of the current judicial atmosphere.   And, these are valid concerns.    Many embrace the strategy of electing more pro-life lawmakers into Statehouses and Congress, and electing a pro-life president who would be certain to appoint justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who would view Roe as a dubious decision with questionable constitutionality, and would vote to overturn it.    To some, "personhood" represented an "all-or-nothing" strategy, while many pro-lifers believe that "incrementalism" more effective.   And, there are valid points on both sides.

The upside of the defeat of the Personhood Amendment in Mississippi is that the visibility of the referendum, you would hope, brought a new awareness of the issue of when life begins, as well as a fresh view of the sanctity of life.  This is a key issue in our culture, because our view of the sanctity of life will also color our positions on other issues, as well as the way that we regard others - if we believe that every life is beautiful, every life a gift of God, then the way we behave toward others can be radically transformed.