Enough With the Personhood Shit

This gets to the core of anti-abortion: turning women back into non-persons. This is saying the equivalent of cancer cells is more deserving of rights and considerations than the sentient, adult human being suffering from those cancer cells.

Digby:

So Mississippi is going to have one of those "blatocysts are people too" initiatives on the ballot, which would outlaw not only all abortions but certain forms of birth control and will likely lead to negligent homicide charges against women who miscarry for reasons the state thinks could have been prevented. It's been tried in Colorado twice and failed, but Mississippi is a different kettle of fish.

It's all horrific, but this latest tack by the anti-abortion forces (used in Mississippi and elsewhere) is truly reprehensible. From Robin Marty:

Personhood amendments are constitutional amendments that declare that human life begins at conception, no matter what the circumstances. This human life — no matter what stage of development, including a zygote — has constitutional rights. Terminating the development of a fertilized human egg is akin to murder under personhood amendments. Generally, under personhood amendments, the circumstances of the pregnant women are irrelevant because the fertilized egg has a constitutional right to life.

Under personhood amendments, a woman will not be able to terminate a pregnancy caused by rape.

Proposed personhood amendments failed in Colorado two times. Mississippi will be voting on its own personhood amendment this year. In an effort to promote its cause, Personhood Mississippi has started a "Conceived in Rape" tour featuring Rebecca Kiessling, who says she was conceived by rape and was slated for abortion.

SNIP

Evidently, this person can't conceive of how awful it is for some people to have to bear their rapists offspring, reminded every day of their pregnancy (and perhaps their whole lives) of the violent event. Or how about giving birth to your own sister? No biggie? Apparently, being insulted at the mere prospect that one might not have come to exist in this world is worse than rape victims being violated and traumatized by rape and forced childbirth. Interesting priorities there.

According to these people fetuses are the only things in this world that deserve protection. Once you're born you're on their own.

As far as constitutional rights are concerned, blastocysts can get in line behind non-white persons, non-male persons, non-heterosexual persons, and non-christian persons.

After the repugs and teabaggers and freakazoids give all of those people full civil and human rights, then we can discuss whether clumps of undifferentiated cells deserve the same.

No-question, no-cost abortion on demand. Anything less denies human rights to women.