Whenever I ridicule the religious right for thinking the federal government (or state government) should be a lightning rod for Christian morality, I always include a statement about the ridiculousness of creationism. Creationism, and Intelligent Design, are anathema to rationality and the scientific method. Based on observations made by paleontologists, anthropologists, planetary scientists, geophysicists, archaeologists, cosmologists, evolutionary biologists and geneticists, the earth is 4.54 billion years old, humans evolved from apes and the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate. Saying that the earth is around 6,000 years old is as rational as saying that Jesus rode dinosaurs.
The underlying message is that the religious right, with enough support, can turn these superstitions into law. I will defend to the end of my life someone's right to be religious and to follow the doctrines supported by whatever church, synagogue, mosque or holy pillar that is the center for their beliefs. But, the law of the United States of America, and it's many states, should not include the moral inclinations of any single religion. The whole reasoning behind the 1st Amendment's religious protection clause was to make sure the country did make any law "respecting the establishment of a certain religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Jefferson's purpose behind including the freedom of religious clause was to make sure that there was a "wall of separation" between church (any religion) and state. I interpret this protection as a law that makes sure no law is established on the basis of the core beliefs of one religion.
This brings us to Mississippi, and it's Amendment 26 "Personhood" legislation. This law, if passed, would define "personhood" or "life" as starting at the time of conception. This will effectively outlaw abortion (in ALL cases), birth control, morning after pills and in vitro fertilization. Haley Barbour, governor-extraordinaire, said that he supports the law, but is hesitant because it includes ambiguous language like "life begins at fertilization, or cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."
Here is my beef:
1. It is based on religious inclinations: Most Pro-Life (whatever that means) believe that life starts at conception because they follow the religious (Catholic mostly) idea that sex is purely for procreation. Keep that belief to yourself and out of our statehouses.
2. It casts the government as a moral crusader: It makes the Mississippi government an enforcer of anti-abortion morality. No government should make laws to enforce the moral inclinations of one group.
3. It translates unanswered ethical questions into law: It essentially settles an ongoing ethical debate, de jure. The definition of "personhood" and "where life starts" has been debated for decades, and there are good arguments on both sides. But to make a law that forces the debate to a conclusion is unbelievably premature.
4. It defines life: No one has the right to define where life starts. Not Haley Barbour, not Mississppi, not Barack Obama...no one.
5. It gives the Mississippi government too much power over the bodies of women: Women have the right to choose what they want to do with their body. Simple as that. No state has the right to legislate that choice. This is why the Federal Government has the Hyde Amendment. It makes sure that the government does not meddle with the abortion debate.
The encroachment of any government on the rights of individuals should stop when it comes to legislating abortion. This amendment goes a step further by defining life, and thereby expanding the definition of murder. This will not only have implications for women's rights, but will also impact family planning and restrict access to in-vitro fertilization for Mississippians who cannot conceive.
What disturbs me most is the quote by obstetrician Dr. Freda Bush:
"In rape and incest, the life that has created during that has done nothing to deserve death. The mother is a victim and there is no reason to make a victim a murderer."
This scary, sick and demented logic is common, unfortunately. This Amendment will only encourage this kind of view, while setting women's rights back to the age of back alleys and clothes hangers.
