The North Dakota House of Representatives has passed the first personhood amendment in the United States, 57-35. Read more
Mississippi
Yes On 26 Celebrates Victory at Mississippi Supreme Court
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/3013517718.html
TUPELO, Miss., Sept. 8, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ — The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled today that Measure No. 26, the Personhood Amendment, did not violate the state constitutional rules governing citizen initiatives, and so the citizens of Mississippi will have the chance to vote on it in November. The Court thus rejected a challenge by the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights to keep the Personhood Amendment off the ballot, claiming that it was an improper attempt to modify the Bill of Rights.
For over two years, scores of men and women, sons and daughters across our fair state patiently and prayerfully labored to successfully bring forth the Mississippi Personhood Amendment, Measure No. 26, to its rightful place on the November 8, 2011, general election ballot. With over 106,000 certified signatures, the first hurdle to secure a constitutionally defensible means of protecting the unborn from the earliest stages of life was achieved.
Recognizing the grave threat a favorable Mississippi vote in November posed to the interstate abortion trade, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood imposed a second hurdle, by filing suit to strip this initiative off the ballot, and as a result, deny Mississippians their right to declare on November 8 that in Mississippi, under God, the unborn are persons, possessed of those “unalienable rights” to life as our Founders opined in the Declaration of Independence.
Thankfully, the Hinds County Circuit Court and now our Supreme Court rejected the arguments of these bastions of liberal, anti-Christian activism and affirmed the right of Mississippians to cast a vote for life — to say “yes” on 26 on Election Day. We applaud the Court’s common sense and correct ruling.
“With the first two hurdles overcome, only the third hurdle of Election Day remains for us to claim victory in our state’s personhood movement. We need Mississippi’s prolife public officials, pastors, and patriots to stand up and be counted in the days ahead as we seek to become the first state in the nation to grant civil rights to the unborn,” said Brad Prewitt, Executive Director of Yes on 26.
“There have been nationwide attempts to silence the personhood message, so we are very pleased that a high court has ruled against the ACLU and Planned Parenthood yet again. The nation is watching Amendment 26, and it is time now to move forward and pass this crucial prolife amendment to defend human life,” said Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA.
“Today we rejoice and celebrate this hard-won victory, but tomorrow we roll up our sleeves and return to work. Our opponents are discouraged, but not yet ultimately defeated. They will be back, spreading fear, confusion, and dire ‘sky-is-falling’ warnings about this simple Amendment, and we must be ready to rebut their baseless charges and set the record straight,” said Stephen Crampton, Liberty Counsel’s lead attorney for Personhood Mississippi in the case.
When passed, the Mississippi Personhood Amendment will recognize what science and medicine have long established — namely that every human being is fully human and fully alive from the moment of fertilization — and will grant the unborn the full and equal protection of the law as the rest of us possess. In the days ahead, we pray that our work to protect the unborn might be successful and that our State of Mississippi might take that first step nationwide to stop abortion and to choose life over death.
Personhood Mississippi WINS Supreme Court Battle, Ready for Voters In November
The Mississippi Personhood Amendment, Initiative Measure Number 26, was notified that the motion to remove the Amendment from the Ballot, filed by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, has been denied.
ACLU and Planned Parenthood attorneys originally filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Secretary of State in July, seeking to disallow Mississippi voters from voting on the Mississippi Personhood Amendment. After their court loss, ACLU and Planned Parenthood appealed the decision to the State Supreme Court, where the rights of Mississippi voters were once again upheld, with a powerful statement from the Court decision: “Just as this Court cannot prohibit legislators from offering proposals in the House or Senate, this Court cannot impede voters from submitting proposals through the voter initiative process.”
Amendment sponsors and volunteers exceeded state signature requirements on February 17, becoming only the fourth successful ballot initiative since 1992. The one-sentence amendment, Initiative Measure Number 26, reads, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”
The ACLU then filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that the Personhood amendment, which seeks to define the term “person," modifies the Bill of Rights, which is expressly prohibited by Section 273(5).
Steve Crampton, Liberty Counsel attorney for Personhood Mississippi, explained that Section 273(5) does not prohibit the definition of an otherwise undefined term, such as “person." Crampton went on to explain that the Personhood Amendment complies with section 273(5)(a) because it does not propose any new right and does not modify or repeal any existing right guaranteed under our Bill of Rights. Instead, the Personhood amendment merely defines the term “person” and does not modify the Bill of Rights in any way.
“We believed that the Court would uphold the rights of Mississippi voters, and we are thankful that they have done so,” stated Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA. “Mississippians volunteered thousands of hours of their time to ensure that voters would have the right to vote on this prolife amendment, and their voices should be heard. Amendment 26 sends a prolife message to the rest of the United States – babies in the womb are people, and have the right to live.”
The decision came just in time, as an exclusive event featuring keynote speaker Governor Mike Huckabee, special guest author and activist Deanna Favre, and musical guest Mark Schultz will be held tonight to kick off the official start of the Amendment 26 campaign.
LifeSite News Helps Personhood USA Expose Planned Parenthod 'Chaplain'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/intellectually-dishonest-baptist-conven…
‘Intellectually dishonest’: Baptist Convention repudiates Planned Parenthood pastor’s claim
by Christine Dhanagom
JACKSON, August 16, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The claim of a clergyman who is also a chaplain for Planned Parenthood that he is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention has been repudiated by a spokesman for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board in comments to LifeSiteNews.com
Rev. Vincent Lachina
Dressed in a clerical collar, Rev. Vincent Lachina urged the crowd gathered for the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Personhood Amendment Hearing last Wednesday to vote against the pro-life amendment.
He prefaced his remarks by saying, “I am an ordained Southern Baptist minister with 47 years of service to the family of God. I wish to state quite clearly that I am both an evangelical Christian and I am committed to a woman’s right to her own reproductive choices.”
“I consider myself both pro-choice and pro-life and I see no conflict in those two convictions,” he continued.
Lachina also noted that he grew up in Jackson and had a “Mississippi heritage.”
After he was finished, however, audience member Jacob Dawson of the American Family Association took to the microphone to fill in some information that Lachina had left out of his introduction.
“A quick Google search reveals a January 2006 article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stating that Mr. Lachina is from Seattle, and is a chaplain for Planned Parenthood,” Dawson announced.
Subsequent research by the pro-life group Live Action has further called into question Lachina’s claim to affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination known for its pro-life stance.
In a blog post yesterday, the organization revealed that a biography of Lachina found on the website of Planned Parenthood Votes! Northwest states that he is affiliated with the American Baptist Conference and the United Church of Christ.
The profile, which has since been removed from Planned Parenthood’s site, reads: “For seven years he served the Southern Baptist Convention as a consultant and editor for youth leadership and special ministries at the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway). He is now aligned with the more progressive American Baptist Conference and the United Church of Christ. “
A screenshot of the original page is still available on Live Action’s website. As of this writing, the image is also stored in Google cache, in a snapshot dated August 4th.
Also available online is a video uploaded in July of 2007 onto Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s YouTube channel in which Lachina identifies himself as an “American Baptist clergy person from Seattle, Washington.”
William Perkins, Spokesman for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, told LifeSiteNews.com that since ordination in the Southern Baptist Convention is inherently tied to autonomous local congregations, claiming to be a Southern Baptist minister is dishonest if a person is not currently affiliated with a Southern Baptist congregation.
According to Perkins, Lachina was courting sympathy in a conservative state where Southern Baptists maintain the highest percentage of any Christian denomination.
“I would characterize it as intellectually dishonest,” he said. “He left out very important parts of his introduction when he got up to speak in Mississippi. He didn’t mention that he was affiliated with Planned Parenthood in any way, because he knows that’s a third rail in the South and in Mississippi. So, he started off by being deceptive and then progressed to being just simply intellectually dishonest.”
“I’ve never seen a Southern Baptist pastor in a collar,” Perkins added.
He also said that his attempts to locate the Southern Baptist church that had ordained Lachina were so far unsuccessful.
According to Roger Oldham, Spokesman for the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, Lachina’s name does not appear in any of the voluntarily submitted lists of ordained ministers that the SBC requests from its cooperating churches.
Personhood USA, a pro-life organization which is backing the Mississippi amendment, released a statement last Friday on the controversy.
“It appears that Planned Parenthood flew a man from Washington to Mississippi, put him in a clerical collar, and asked him to appeal to the voters with deep Southern Baptist roots. It’s just wrong,” said Personhood USA President Keith Mason.
“His attempts to dissuade voters from voting for Amendment 26 will not be successful. Yes on 26 is an honest campaign for a pro-life measure. No posturing or dress-up is necessary to see that all human beings are people, and that all people have a right to life,” Mason concluded.
Planned Parenthood ‘Chaplain’ Caught on Tape Deceiving Mississippi Voters
08/12/2011 – Jackson, MS – Mississippi voters were in an uproar on Wednesday when Planned Parenthood Seattle Chaplain Vincent Lachina was exposed during a Mississippi Secretary of State’s Personhood Amendment Hearing.
Speaking to a crowd of Mississippi voters, Lachina claimed to be a Southern Baptist minister, both “pro-life and pro-choice”. Addressing the crowd in a clerical collar, Mississippians listened intently as Lachina shared that he grew up in Jackson and had a Mississippi heritage. Lachina boldly preached an ideology of choice from the pulpit, calling for a “no” vote on pro-life Amendment 26, but left out some critical details.
Lachina failed to mention that he is the Washington State Chaplain at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Jacob Dawson, of the American Family Association, was sitting in the audience and decided to do a Google search of Lachina, having never heard of a Southern Baptist preacher from Mississippi by that name – much less a pro-choice, clerical collar-wearing Southern Baptist Preacher.
Dawson got up before the crowd and stated, “A quick Google search reveals that Mr. Lachina is from Seattle, and is a chaplain for Planned Parenthood.”
The crowd was stunned, and many were outraged at the misrepresentation and deception of Planned Parenthood.
Further research on Mr. Lachina revealed the following statement: “We gay men don’t need to worry about what the Republicans, the religious right, or homophobes will do to us.” Vincent Lachina, “The Good Boy,” The Advocate, January 30, 2007
The “Religious Right” mentioned by Lachina certainly must include Southern Baptists, who have historically opposed abortion and homosexuality, and have made public statements expounding on that opposition.
“Nationwide, we have seen Planned Parenthood’s repeated attempts to deceive the public. These are just the kind of underhanded tactics we have come to expect from Planned Parenthood,” explained Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA. “It appears that Planned Parenthood flew a man from Washington to Mississippi, put him in a clerical collar, and asked him to appeal to the voters with deep Southern Baptist roots. It’s just wrong. His attempts to dissuade voters from voting for Amendment 26 will not be successful. Yes on 26 is an honest campaign for a pro-life measure. No posturing or dress-up is necessary to see that all human beings are people, and that all people have a right to life.”
The Yes on 26 Campaign www.yeson26.net has released a video of the deception at www.youtube.com/yeson26dotnet.
News from Yes on 26, Colombia, and the U.K.!
Vote Yes on 26!
The Yes on 26 campaign has launched a new website featuring information on the Mississippi Personhood Amendment. A26 will guarantee the rights of every person, born and preborn, by defining the word “person,” as used in the Mississippi Constitution, to “include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof."
The website, YesOn26.net, includes a section announcing endorsements, tabs to sign up for volunteer opportunities and email updates, and lists Mississippi Lt. Governor Phil Bryant and American Family Association Founder and Director Dr. Don Wildmon as Co-chairmen of the Advisory Board.
A new video can be found on the homepage spotlighting the importance of the question of personhood in the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade oral arguments. An additional section highlights President Ronald Reagan’s Personhood Proclamation, given on January 14th, 1988.
“Like” the Yes on 26 Facebook page by following this link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yes-on-26/118603064896387
5 Million Signatures Collected in Colombia!
Amazing news out of Colombia--a petition to add an amendment to the nation’s constitution protecting the right to life of all people “from conception to natural death” has garnered a total of 5 million signatures! LifeSiteNews.com reports on the staggering number here.
Currently, a section of the Colombian constitution recognizes that, “The right to life is inviolable,” but a 2006 ruling by the nation’s Constitutional Court decriminalized abortion for babies conceived by rape, children with a deformity, and life-threatening cases. The amendment would override the decision and eliminate the exceptions to the law!
ACI Prensa reports that the campaign began in late March and that the effort was extended through early June. This means that the sponsors had just over two months to collect the incredible number!
Human-Animal Experiments Conducted in U.K.
Last week, it was revealed that 155 human-animal hybrid embryos were created and killed by researchers in the U.K. in the last 3 years. Three labs were granted licenses for the creation of “cybrids,” in which human DNA is implanted into animal cells, and “chimeras,” in which human cells are infused with animal embryos.
Read the full report from Personhood USA here.
The information came to light from a question by British MP Lord David Alton. Alton’s full response can be found on JillStanek.com.
LifeSiteNews.com reports that the investigation has also revealed that 1.5 million babies in the embryonic stage of life have been killed since 1991. “We are creating and destroying human embryos on an industrial scale,” said Lord Alton.
News from Oakland, Oklahoma, and the Yes on Amendment 26 Campaign!
Oakland Pro-abortion Campaign Lies
A project to erect 60 pro-life billboards bearing the image of a precious black child below the words “Black & Beautiful” came to an end on July 10th as the contract period expired. Local pro-abortion forces decried the ads as racist for content included on the website TooManyAborted.com that demonstrates how abortion has disproportionately and negatively impacted the black community.
In a post on RHRealityCheck.org, blogger Eveline Shen claims the ads were taken down due to the overwhelming pressure CBS Outdoor received in a pro-abortion campaign to remove them.
Jill Stanek posted the contract for everyone to view themselves here. As one can clearly devise, the advertising period ran from June 13th to July 10th.
LifeSiteNews.com picked up on the story here. “It’s a total lie,” said Ryan Bomberger of the Radiance Foundation.
California Personhood Amendment Sponsor and Issues4Life President, Walter Hoye, posted the following on his Facebook page:
“Pastors: Anyone claiming OUR BILLBOARDS were forced down is either woefully ill-informed or deliberately engaging in the art of deceit. By God’s grace and mercy our billboards HAVE WITHSTOOD THE ONSLAUGHT OF THE ABORTION BUSINESS serving as ministers of truth. The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. The third step is action. It’s a new day and I’m not done. Will you help me? Brothers, we need to talk.”
Planned Parenthood Considers Abortion in Tulsa
Recently, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, headquartered in Des Moines, with facilities in Iowa and Nebraska, absorbed an affiliate of the organization that operates abortuaries in Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma. The management contract will form a mega-sized Midwestern abortion chain which includes a total of 28 Planned Parenthood centers, offering abortions at 18 locations.
The Tulsa World is reporting that the new coalition is now considering committing abortions at their Tulsa locations. “Over the next six months, we will review and analyze client access and need to determine what additional services will be offered in Oklahoma. Abortion care is one of many services we will analyze over the next six months,” said Planned Parenthood of the Heartland President Jill June.
Last session, the Oklahoma legislature passed an abortion restriction to ban those committed past 20 weeks based on preborn children’s biological function to experience pain. As is the case in other states where similar laws were passed, Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion forces are ignoring the new laws, choosing to consider expansion instead of challenge the laws with litigation.
Personhood, on the other hand, is generating a ton of attention from the ACLU and Planned Parenthood in Mississippi and elsewhere. Could it be that they understand that personhood would put an end to their business plans? Personhood Now, Oklahoma!
Lt. Governor Phil Bryant Supports “Yes” Vote on Amendment 26
In an interview with the American Family Association’s Matt Friedeman Show, Mississippi Lt. Governor and gubernatorial candidate, Phil Bryant encouraged people of faith to show up at the polls this November and vote in favor of the Mississippi Personhood Amendment.
“So we’re actually going to get to go into the polling places and say ‘I believe that life begins at conception and I believe that child has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ So you can go in and vote your faith on life,” he said. Watch the entire video here.
Please continue to pray for the Yes on Amendment 26 Campaign and pray for the leadership in Mississippi that they would continue to stand for the truth—that every child is a person created in the image and likeness of God with an inherent right to live.
Personhood in the WORLD, in the USA, and in the State Governor's Race! Personhood Hero for the Win!
Personhood in the WORLD
WORLD magazine, one of the leading Christian news publications, picked up on the developments of the personhood bill in Alabama. Last minute changes turned SB301 into a surgical abortion ban. However, WORLD made note of personhood legislation that has advanced in several states this year and pointed to the strategy for achieving victory for those yet to be born.
Personhood USA co-founder, Cal Zastrow, was quoted saying, “We must create enabling legislation to criminalize surgical and chemical abortion—every drug, every surgery designed to murder,”
Great job, Cal! And a big thank you to Syndey Thomas for the nice article.
Continue reading the entire piece here.
Personhood in the USA
The personhood movement’s influence continues to grow on the national scene as well. Presidential contender, Rick Santorum was on NBC’s Meet the Press last Sunday where he stated, “I believe that life begins at conception and that life should be guaranteed under the Constitution. That is a person.”
Check out the transcript of Santorum’s interview with David Gregory here.
Or watch a video of the action here.
Personhood USA is not endorsing Mr. Santorum or any of the current candidates for the office of the presidency. However, it is, nevertheless, interesting that our politicians are hearing our message to advocate for the rights of every human person.
Our politicians need to be taught, but they’re starting to catch on. We ask for your prayers as we continue to help guide our elected officials to take a bold and declarative stand by supporting constitutional personhood amendments at every level of government.
Personhood in the State Governor’s Race
Mississippi is a shining example of how a citizen-led, grassroots personhood campaign can have a dramatic effect on the political discourse in your state. Late last week, Lt. Governor Phil Bryant received the endorsement of Mississippi Right to Life for Governor. During his acceptance speech, he reiterated that he supports the Mississippi Personhood Amendment and encouraged citizens to do likewise.
Bryant’s GOP primary opponent, Dave Dennis, followed with a statement on his website, similarly endorsing Amendment 26. “I favor the Personhood Initiative to put a strong pro-life issue on the ballot in November,” he said.
Read the candidate’s statements on Amendment 26 in our press release here.
Pray for these two gentlemen for the strength to continue standing for personhood. And continue to pray for the campaign in Mississippi as they prepare to vote in November to affirm the God-given right to life of every person from our biological beginnings.
Personhood Hero Walter Hoye for the Win!
You know the old adage “Any press is good press”? Well, that is certainly the case in a place like the Bay Area—Oakland, California—where California Personhood Amendment sponsor and Issues4Life President, Walter Hoye, is making waves with a flurry of new pro-life billboards.
Follow this link for LifeSiteNews.com coverage.
The signs depict a precious black baby with the words “Black and Beautiful.” But that’s not what has every one’s feathers in a ruffle. Rather, it is the inclusion of a web address for TooManyAborted.com—a website focused on how abortion has negatively impacted the black community.
Answer me this: Why would the abortion industry not want word to get out that black babies account for 30% of the total number of abortions while black people account for just 12.2% of the country’s population? And why would Planned Parenthood not want people to know that 79% of their facilities are located in inner-city, minority neighborhoods? Is it because they don’t want black people to catch on that they are being targeted for abortion?
The local media is adding fuel to the fire by implying that the ads are racist. However, as Walter said in a TV news piece, “Because we are talking about it, I think the campaign is successful.”
Continue watching the CBS 5 story here.
The Christian Broadcasting Network picked up the story here.
Got Facebook?
Keep up to date with all of the latest personhood news by liking our page at http://facebook.com/PersonhoodUSA.
May God continue to bless your efforts in protecting every preborn person by love and by law!
GOP Gubernatorial Candidates Support the Mississippi Personhood Amendment
JACKSON, MS. — Accepting the endorsement of Mississippi Right to Life at a press conference Thursday afternoon, Republican candidate for Governor and current Lt. Governor, Phil Bryant, reiterated his support for the personhood ballot measure and encouraged citizens to work towards its passage.
“I also want to encourage everyone to support the Personhood Amendment that will be on the ballot in November. If successful on the ballot, the Personhood Amendment will be a turning point for protecting the unborn in Mississippi,” said Bryant.
Titled Amendment 26, the Mississippi Personhood Amendment defines the words “person” and “persons,” as used in the state constitution, to “include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”
An early endorsement from Bryant was instrumental in the success of the citizen-led initiative drive. In February of last year, Personhood Mississippi submitted over 130,000 signatures—40,000 more than required for ballot access.
Bryant’s Republican primary opponent, Gulfport businessman Dave Dennis, responded in a statement—utilizing the opportunity to similarly endorse the efforts of the Amendment 26 campaign.
“I believe as our Founding Fathers believed that we are endowed by our Creator ‘with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,’” stated Dennis. “I am fully pro-life and oppose abortion. I favor the Personhood Initiative to put a strong pro-life issue on the ballot in November.”
“We’re grateful that Mississippians will choose between two men of such strong convictions this year,” said Keith Mason, Co-founder of Personhood USA. “Bryant and Dennis get it. This is about affirming the most fundamental of all rights of people—our very right to live.”
Personhood Mississippi sends daughter of rape victim on tour to garner support for abortion criminalization measure
by Sofia Resnick | 06.09.11 | 4:30 pm
http://washingtonindependent.com/110766/personhood-mississippi-sends-dau…
Before Mississippians have a chance vote on the criminalization of abortion in the 2011 general election (and before the Mississippi Supreme Court rules whether or not to prevent the constitutional amendment from going on the ballot), the anti-abortion rights activists behind the movement are making concerted efforts to ensure the measure has the votes to pass.
The inclusion of the “personhood” ballot question — “Should the term ‘person’ be defined to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the equivalent thereof?” — was the result of a citizens’ initiative, led by anti-abortion rights group Personhood Mississippi, the local affiliate of Personhood USA.
Last week, in a preemptive move to diffuse any concerns that the measure — Amendment 26 — criminalizing abortion would negatively impact victims of rape or incest, Personhood Mississippi held a week-long “Conceived in Rape Lecture Series,” held in Southaven, Laurel, Meridian and Gulfport, during which Personhood spokesperson and attorney Rebecca Kiessling told her story.
According to Kiessling, she was conceived during rape and put up for adoption. Then when she located her birth mother as a young adult, she says her mother told her that, had abortion been legal at the time of her pregnancy, she would have aborted Kiessling.
Kiessling on being a prospective target for abortion:
According to Personhood USA spokesperson Jennifer Mason, the tour also served as a fundraiser; donations go to so-called crisis pregnancy centers in the state.
On the Rachel Maddow Show Wednesday night, Maddow blasted the group’s tour, saying the Personhood activists “are forcing women who are victims in rape to bear the rapist’s child.”
Watch an excerpt from the show:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
On Thursday, Personhood USA released a statement in response to Maddow’s comments:
“I am not the rapist’s child!” Kiessling writes in the statement. “He doesn’t even know of my existence, as in most rape cases. And what an insult to the majority of rape victims who not only choose life for their child, but choose to raise their child — after everything they’ve been through, Maddow has the audacity to refer to the rape victim’s child as being ‘the rapist’s child’?! She does not speak for the majority of rape victims who express that their child has brought them healing, helping them to overcome the rape. The ones who abort are four times more likely to die within the next year. If you truly have compassion for a rape victim, you’d want to protect her from the abortion and not the baby! A baby is not the worst thing that could ever happen to a rape victim — an abortion is.”Mason said Personhood USA is confident Mississippians will adopt Amendment 26 in the next election, particularly because most people in the state are against abortion rights.
“Most people who are pro-life are pro-life in every circumstance, ” Mason said. “I think people in Mississippi are ready for a personhood amendment, [to give] everyone a chance to live.”
Challenges to Roe v. Wade, by making providing abortions a crime –- even in the case of rape or incest –- have seen progress in states such as Alabama and Louisiana. As the Florida Independent recently reported, last month in Louisiana, Rep. John LaBruzzo (R-Metairie), compared abortion to illegal drug use at a hearing for a bill criminalizing abortion, which on Wednesday was recommitted to the House Committee on Appropriations. At the same hearing, Kiessling made the case that criminalizing abortion will end rape and incest because, “not only does the rape typically end after [the mother] gives birth, but also for all the other young women in the household who are being raped.”
Personhood Mississippi’s website lists endorsements for Amendment 26 from churches and Christians ministries, medical professionals and elected officials and political leaders. Listed supporting politicians include candidates for various offices, such as Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, who is running for governor; several House representatives, such as Reps. Larry Baker (R-District 8), Philip Gunn (R-District 56); and several state senators, including Sens. Chris McDaniel (R-District 42), Lee Yancey (R-District 20), Billy Hewes (R-District 49), Eric Powell (D-District 4), Nickey Browning (D-District 3), Merle Flowers (D-District 19), Joey Fillingame (R-District 41), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-District 39). Republican U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee is also listed as a supporter for the amendment.
Attorney Rebecca Kiessling Responds to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow
Tonight, Rachel Maddow went on a rant against my recent “Conceived in Rape Tour” for Personhood Mississippi. Once again, she ignorantly referred to children like me as being “the rapist’s child.” First of all, I am not the rapist’s child! He doesn’t even know of my existence, as in most rape cases. And what an insult to the majority of rape victims who not only choose life for their child, but choose to raise their child — after everything they’ve been through, Maddow has the audacity to refer to the rape victim’s child as being “the rapist’s child”?! She does not speak for the majority of rape victims who express that their child has brought them healing, helping them to overcome the rape. The ones who abort are four times more likely to die within the next year. If you truly have compassion for a rape victim, you’d want to protect her from the abortion and not the baby! A baby is not the worst thing that could ever happen to a rape victim — an abortion is. To be pro-woman is to recognize that women are much stronger than they are given credit for, and to understand that a baby is not the scary enemy. No woman has to be afraid of a baby!
Rachel Maddow is the one who is extreme because she’s against the death penalty for rapists, but supports the death penalty for the innocent child who happened to be conceived in rape. She’d have no problem telling another living human being that they are garbage, that they don’t deserve to be living and that they weren’t worthy of being protected. That’s extreme! However, I did not miss the fact that she failed to mention that the “Conceived in Rape” tour involved a real human being — and I’m a woman no less! No, instead Maddow had to continue to de-humanize the enemy, making it easier for us to be targeted and killed. The fact is, my story and the dozens of other life-affirming stories on my website of others conceived in rape and/or incest and women who became pregnant by rape do help to put faces, voices, and stories to this issue, and they are effective.
My birthmother did not choose life for me. She chose abortion. But pro-life advocates in Michigan chose life for me by making sure abortion was illegal in Michigan, even in cases of rape. They are my heroes and I owe my life to them! I’m not some elitist person who thinks that the world could not exist without her, but my life was spared for a purpose. How selfish it would be to say, “Oh well, at least my life was spared. I deserved it!” And millions of others didn’t? My near-death experience is very real. I feel like I was saved from a burning building and as I have the opportunity to go back and save others, I most certainly will.
Despite wanting to abort me more than 4 decades ago, my birthmother is proud of me today, has shared her story alongside me, and is so thankful we were both protected from the abortion. I honor her and I bring her healing, which is why she and her husband legally adopted me last fall, 22 years from the day we met. But Rachel Maddow doesn’t have the heart to understand something so wonderful. She only pretends to care about women.
— Rebecca Kiessling
Pro-life Speaker, Attorney
Recent Press Releases
Recent Blog Posts
Personhood in the News
