Tag: personhood bill

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ND lawmakers define life as starting at conception

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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota didn’t set out to become the abortion debate’s new epicenter.

It happened by accident, after a legislative caucus that once vetted abortion bills languished, leaving lawmakers to propose a flurry of measures — some cribbed from Wikipedia — without roadblocks.

Long dismissed as cold and inconsequential, North Dakota is now trying to enact the toughest abortion restrictions in the nation. The newly oil-rich red state may soon find itself in a costly battle over legislation foes describe as blatantly unconstitutional.

“It had to happen some place,” said Sen. John Andrist, a Crosby Republican who has served in the Legislature for more than two decades.

“I’m from the group who hates voting on abortion issues and who don’t like to play God,” said Andrist, who describes himself as “moderately pro-life” and has voted for some but not all of the restrictions North Dakota has taken up this year. “But we have some strong-willed people in this state who do.”

Lawmakers on Friday took a step toward outlawing abortion altogether in the state by passing a so-called personhood resolution that says a fertilized egg has the same right to life as a person. The House’s approval sends the matter to voters, who will decide whether to add the wording to the state’s constitution in November 2014. Read full article.

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First ‘personhood’ bill of session is filed

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Personhood BillOKLAHOMA CITY – One of last year’s most emotional issues for the Oklahoma Legislature apparently will be revisited this spring, with at least one “personhood” bill already filed for the session that begins Feb. 4.

“Personhood,” a concept popular among abortion-rights opponents, holds that individual rights and constitutional protections begin at conception.

State Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, is the author of House Bill 1029, the Personhood Act of 2013. As written, the bill appears to be virtually identical to one that led to a bitter fight in the House of Representatives before it failed to get a vote on the floor.

A resolution with the same language as the bill but without the force of law did pass in the House, with several personhood supporters condemning it as a sellout. Read full article.

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Paul Ryan Cosponsors New Fetal Personhood Bill

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Despite the deep unpopularity of fetal personhood bills in 2012, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has again decided to cosponsorthe Sanctity of Human Life Act, a bill that gives full legal rights to human zygotes from the moment of fertilization.

Ryan, who reportedly has 2016 presidential ambitions, had to de-emphasize his opposition to abortion without exceptions during the 2012 election to align his position with presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But this year, Ryan has been tapped as a keynote speaker for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List’s sixth annual Campaign for Life Gala, and he is re-upping his support for the most extreme anti-abortion legislation in the country.

The personhood bill, first introduced in 2011 by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and reintroduced by Broun last week, specifies that a “one-celled human embryo,” even before it implants in the uterus to create a pregnancy, should be granted “all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” Similar legislation has been rejected by voters in multiple states, including the socially conservative Mississippi, because legal experts have pointed out that it could outlaw some forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization as well as criminalize abortion at all stages. Read full article.

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US Supreme Court Rejects Oklahoma Personhood Appeal

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that said a proposal to grant “personhood” to human embryos would be an improper ban on abortion.

The proposed constitutional amendment, which was never considered by voters, would have given human embryos the rights and privileges of citizens in Oklahoma and was called “clearly unconstitutional” by the state Supreme Court in an April ruling.

The measure was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of several Oklahoma doctors and residents before it could be placed on the ballot.

“Today’s rejection by the highest court in the nation is yet another resounding message to the opponents of reproductive freedom that such extremist assaults on our fundamental rights will not stand,” Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights said Monday. Read full article.

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Human Embryo Question Appealed to Supreme Court

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ADA, Okla. – The contentious question about whether a fertilized human egg is a person will go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A national anti-abortion group said it has appealed the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision rejecting a citizens petition calling for a statewide vote on the question.

The Oklahoma court ruled in April that the petition was unconstitutional, citing federal court precedents in abortion cases.

Keith Mason, founder of Personhood USA, said the appeal is based on the argument that Oklahoma voters have a constitutional right to express their preference “on such a critical issue as life.”

Read full article.

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Behind ‘Personhood’ Leader Keith Mason’s Anti-Abortion Crusade

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Keith Mason and his wife are leading a growing national campaign to legally define human embryos as people, which would outlaw abortion—and possibly some forms of birth control, opponents say. In an exclusive interview, he tells Abigail Pesta about his ambitious plans for 2012’s election season.

The couple laughs. In the four years since Mason launched the pro-life group Personhood USA, he has been crisscrossing the country to convince voters that the best way to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion, is to define human embryos as people from the moment of fertilization. The group has helped spark 22 “personhood” bills and ballot initiatives; while none has passed, in each ballot vote on personhood, the margin of defeat has declined. His group is now collecting signatures for ballot efforts in Colorado, Ohio, and Montana for the November elections and in Florida for 2014. “Wait and watch us grow,” he says confidently. “We’re like a weed.”

Personhood efforts have existed for decades, but they have never taken hold in the public imagination the way Mason’s work has. Nor have they been so present in the pro-life discourse. “They’re saying out loud what many anti-choice activists believe but don’t say upfront—they want to ban abortion in all circumstances,” says Donna Crane, a policy director at the advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America. “In some ways, it’s the more honest conversation to have.” And it has gathered supporters in this election season who include Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry. (Mitt Romney has demurred, but Mason says he is “hammering away” at the nominee.)

Read full article.

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Last Ditch Effort to Pass Personhood Legislation Fails in Oklahoma

ASRM News and Research

Legislation to define an unborn child to include “the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until birth at every stage of biological development” never made it to a final vote in the Oklahoma House.  SB1433, was approved by the Oklahoma Senate in February and later amended by a House committee, but Republican House leaders refused to bring the controversial bill to a vote late last week after an unprecedented number of amendments were filed on the bill in attempts to protect vital forms of reproductive care.