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"New push to define 'person' and outlaw abortion in the process"
Latimes.com ^ | September 28, 2009 | Robin Abcarian

Posted on 09/28/2009 2:46:29 PM PDT by Lesforlife

A new push to define 'person' and to outlaw abortion in the process

Some abortion foes think the rationale for Roe vs. Wade is vulnerable. They're trying to amend state constitutions -- including California's -- to define personhood from conception.

By Robin Abcarian

September 28, 2009

It is one of the enduring questions of religion and science, and lately of American politics: When does a fertilized egg become a person?

Abortion foes, tired of a profusion of laws that limit but do not abolish abortion, are trying to answer the question in a way that they hope could put an end to legalized abortion.

Across the country, they have revived efforts to amend state constitutions to declare that personhood -- and all rights accorded human beings -- begins at conception.

From Florida to California, abortion foes are gathering signatures, pressing state legislators and raising money to put personhood measures on ballots next year. In Louisiana, a class at a Catholic high school is lobbying state legislators as part of a civics exercise.

"We have big and small efforts going on in 30 states right now," said Keith Mason, co-founder of Colorado-based Personhood USA. "Our goal is to activate the population."

Critics deride the effort as the "egg-as-person" movement and say it threatens in vitro fertilization; some kinds of birth control, including IUDs and pills; and stem cell research. They say that Americans will reject it as a government intrusion into their privacy.

"It's a backdoor abortion ban," said Ted Miller, spokesman for NARAL Pro-Choice America, which has worked with Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups to defeat such measures.

Since the mid-1970s, polls have found that about three-quarters of Americans support legalized abortion in at least some circumstances.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abortion; personhood; prolife

1 posted on 09/28/2009 2:46:30 PM PDT by Lesforlife
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To: Lesforlife

The same legal reasoning used in the Dredd Scott decision to say blacks were not legally ‘persons’ is what was used in the Roe v. Wade decision. As long as Roe v. Wade stands the stare decicis exists to re-declare blacks or any other group of people as not ‘persons’ by law.


2 posted on 09/28/2009 2:51:57 PM PDT by TigersEye (0bama: "I can see Mecca from the WH portico." --- Google - Cloward-Piven Strategy)
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To: Lesforlife

You could use the same tactic but with a different measure, namely, if a heat beat or brain activity can be detected. These are the measures used in determining if an individual is dead for either end of life or executions. Likewise, they are a measurable action that could be used for determining the start of life.

That would mean that at 6 to 7 weeks after pregnancy, the heart beat could be detected via ultrasound. Since most abortions occur later than that, it would prevent a substantial number of abortions.


3 posted on 09/28/2009 2:55:41 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: Lesforlife

If I run a pregnant lady off a cliff and both her and her fetus die then I get charged twice. If she walks into a clinic and does the deed then hey, “no harm, no foul”

go figure


4 posted on 09/28/2009 2:55:54 PM PDT by misterrob (A society that burdens future generations with debt can not be considered moral or just)
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To: taxcontrol

The goal isn’t to limit abortions - it is to legally protect all innocent human life,
from the beginning of biological development.

The goal wasn’t to have fewer slaves, it was to recognize the liberty and God given rights of all human beings, regardless of their color.

The goal wasn’t to gas fewer Jews, it was to end the evil religious
persecution of God’s chosen people.


5 posted on 09/28/2009 3:34:05 PM PDT by Lesforlife
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To: Lesforlife

There is an important film currently in post-production that seeks to expose the truth about abortion. It is called Blood Money: The Business of Abortion. Because of the pro-life nature of the film, the producers are trying to rally support to show a major Hollywood distributor that there is interest in this country in seeing the film in theaters.

Dr. Alveda King of our African American outreach, Georgette Forney of our Silent No More Awareness Campaign.
Please help by visiting their website at www.bloodmoneyfilm.com.

Watch the trailer and sign up to show your support. Also, please forward this email along to all of contacts and in turn, ask them to do the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaTywSDmls&feature=channel_page


6 posted on 09/28/2009 3:43:26 PM PDT by mgist
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To: Lesforlife

I understand goals ... I also understand warfare. Take what advances you can get now, solidify, consolidate and strike out again to the ultimate goal.


7 posted on 09/28/2009 3:44:53 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: Lesforlife

Since there has never been a question about when according to medicine this is a false premiss. A fertilized egg has separate DNA from it’s Mother so it is a unique person from conception though the left keeps denying this over and over. This it becomes a separate being from then on and can be called a person.


8 posted on 09/28/2009 6:04:02 PM PDT by chris_bdba
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To: chris_bdba

This = thus


9 posted on 09/28/2009 6:06:09 PM PDT by chris_bdba
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To: chris_bdba

Too many young girls and women have been persuaded that
their pre-born baby is a parasite - and that they have every
right to exterminate!

Twisted.


10 posted on 09/29/2009 10:54:37 AM PDT by Lesforlife
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To: Lesforlife
Pinged from Terri Dailies


11 posted on 09/29/2009 4:17:54 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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