The War-On-Women: The Personhood Edition

A new(ish) take on the war-on-women: The Personhood Movement. Establishing “personhood” for fetuses. Lots of tactics here, but mostly it involves putting voter initiatives on the ballot, and then hashing out legal definitions in court. And providing legal support for all other war-on-women related initiatives.

From Louisiana, where Personhood USA lawyers are assisting legislatively:

Today, the Louisiana House will debate a bill that would make abortion “a prosecutable crime for doctors who perform” a constitutionally-protected service or prescribe drugs with the intent of ending a pregnancy. Originally planning to prosecute women as well, the bill — introduced by state Rep. John Labruzzo (R) — now allows for medical exceptions but no exception for rape or incest. Labruzzo, who once suggested sterilizing poor women to lower welfare costs, was joined by a Personhood USA lawyer in a recent committee hearing to defend his radical efforts.

During the hearing, a fellow lawmaker noted LaBruzzo’s bill will have “unintended consequences when we do that broad brush” and questioned whether the bill would cause a “dramatic decrease on the abortion rate.” Sitting beside the Personhood lawyer, LaBruzzo dismissed her concerns and launched into a comparison between reproductive rights and drug abuse. To him, a woman who seeks an abortion is just like a heroin addict.

Because after all, as Mr. Labruzzo surmises, just because heroin is illegal but people still break the law by using it, doesn’t mean we should legalize it. O.K, then.

In Mississippi, legal machinations over what processes can be used to define “person.” Right now an initiative designed to assign personhood to a fetus is scheduled to be on the November 8th ballot

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's initiative process can't be used to change the state constitution's Bill of Rights as backers of a "personhood" amendment are trying to do, attorneys for the amendment's opponents told the Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday.

However, backers of the amendment told the court they are trying to define "person" as it is used in the Bill of Rights, not make changes to it.

Stephen Crampton, attorney for the amendment supporters, said the amendment is about the protection of life.

"You can't protect it unless you know what it is," Crampton said, "This sets a definition in the law. It is quite modest in its scope. It is not out to abolish, amend or repeal of the Bill of Rights."

The proposed "personhood" constitutional amendment seeks to define life as beginning at conception.

And from Nevada, where the process is just beginning:

A Nevada Personhood Amendment may appear on the November 2012 state ballot in Nevada as an initiated constitutional amendment. The measure, if approved, would recognize the personhood of the unborn from the earliest stages of life. The proposed constitutional amendment is supported by Personhood Nevada and is part of a nationwide effort to place the measures on 2010 ballots. [1]

Originally the measure was proposed for the November 2010 ballot, however, on June 10, five days before the petition drive deadline, supporters announced they did not have sufficient signatures and would instead aim for the 2012 ballot.[2]

Of course, not to say “conventional” tactics on the war on reproductive freedom are not continually being used. In Iowa, a proposal to prohibit women from having abortions after the 20th week is being resurrected today by House Republicans.

Going after it from all angles.