politicstalk
by Lacey McLaughlin
Abortion Amendment Unlikely WARD SCHAEFER
LUNCH BUNCH March 3rd at 11:45 a.m. Jackson Medical Mall Community Room
P
ersonhood Mississippi leader Les Riley stood in front of a small but fervent crowd last week at the secretary of state’s office proclaiming victory for the pro-life movement. His children, wearing T-shirts adorned with fetuses and waving Christian flags, hovered around half a dozen cardboard boxes filled with signatures for a 2011 ballot initiative aimed at ending abortion in Mississippi. “We are making history because Mississippi will lead the nation in providing equal rights to all human beings, regardless of their size or location,” Riley told the crowd. Over a year ago, Riley, a father of 10, started organizing grassroots efforts to garner enough signatures for a 2011 ballot initiative to change the state constitution. He and his volunteers want voters to decide whether the constitution should designate when life begins by adding the following clause: “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” After 13 months of trolling for signatures by canvassing communities, churches and businesses statewide, Riley says the movement has obtained 105,000 valid signatures. The secretary of state’s office requires 89,285 statewide voter signatures with at least 17,857 from each congressional district to qualify an issue for a ballot initiative. Having accepted the signatures, the secretary of state’s office will now evaluate the petitions. Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, who is expected to run for governor in 2011, solicited phone messages for organization, saying his participation fell in line with his religious beliefs. “I had a prayer when I first started office: I didn’t want to just pass bills and worry over budgets; I wanted to do something special. I wanted to end abortion in Mississippi,” Bryant told the crowd. “[I] said Lord if you’ll send me there, I am going to do all that I can to stop this horrible sin that has blighted America.” Amending a state’s constitution isn’t a new tactic to end abortions, but it is gaining momentum in several states. In Colorado, like Mississippi, the state-level group has collected enough signatures for a ballot initiative in 2011. Personhood groups are also pushing for
amendments in Missouri, California, Montana and Florida. Colorado became the first state to gain enough signatures for a personhood amendment in 2008; however, Amendment 48 fell significantly short of passing, with only 27 percent of Coloradans voting to change their state constitution. If, in fact, the 2011 amendment passes in the Mississippi Legislature, it would still have numerous legal hurdles. The amendment could not make abortions illegal by itself, but would give lawmakers and lawyers leverage in restricting the procedure. Harriett Johnson, advocacy coordinator for the ACLU in Jackson, says that if passed, the initiative would bring legal ramifications for women’s reproduction rights by challenging current law, and would violate the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. “(The amendment) is intended to eliminate a woman’s right to make personal and private health-care decisions,” Johnson said. “In regards to the law, it would invite lawyers in courts to reinterpret every Mississippi law and regulation that contains the word ‘person.’ It would clog up the court system at the cost of Mississippi taxpayers.” Johnson could not confirm if the ACLU planned to file suit against Personhood Mississippi or the state. Mississippi College law professor Matt Steffey says the amendment would be “null and void.” “If the case was to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s 100 percent certain that the law would be struck down as unconstitutional. An effort to (ban abortion) would be essentially symbolic at this point,” he said. “But even if it passes with 100 percent of the vote, it’s still unconstitutional.” As unconstitutional, Steffey added, as it would be if voters in Mississippi wanted to re-establish segregation in the state. Riley insists that the amendment would immediately ban abortion in Mississippi and if it is challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court, he says he is ready to put up a fight. “A court decision is not law; the shocking thing to me is that we treat them as laws,” Riley said. The state of Mississippi is fixing to educate the Supreme Court.”
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Personhood Mississippi leader Les Riley (left) submitted signatures last week for a ballot initiative to end abortion; legal experts refute the weight of the amendment.
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