Redux: CO personhood initiative
From a press release today:
CO Right To Life and Personhood USA will submit language for a new Personhood initiative to the CO Legislative Council Staff on July 2, 2009, marking the beginning of the 2010 Colorado Personhood Initiative. The state’s largest pro-life organization joins with this national political action group based in Denver to fight for the affirmation of the rights of all humans from the beginning of their biological development….
“Over half-a-million Coloradans voted for personhood in 2008. Their votes acknowledging the God-given right to life of the preborn revolutionized the pro-life movement and they encourage us toward victory,” stated Gualberto Garcia Jones, one of the initiative’s sponsors. “Personhood USA’s volunteers plan to work around the clock to keep the momentum going in order to ensure that all humans are protected in CO.”
The initiative has been endorsed by eminent Georgetown University medical ethicist Dr. Dianne Irving (pictured left). Once approved by the Secretary of State, grassroots volunteers will begin collecting signatures to place the Initiative on the 2010 ballot.
“In 2008 our state’s Personhood Initiative demonstrated an unparalleled grassroots effort, with more signatures gathered by volunteers than any other ballot initiative in the state’s history, and 1,300 petition circulators,” said Leslie Hanks, the 2010 co-sponsor and long-time vice president of CO Right To Life. “Abortion is wrong because it’s a baby; it’s always wrong to intentionally kill a baby.”
Here’s a promo video from Personhood USA:
I say good for them!
[Photo attributions: intellectualconservative.com; fmmh.ycdsb.ca]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Here, here.
Although I do wish they’d stop citing God. It not only muddles the conflict (since a lot of pro-aborts are viciously athiest, to a point of being idiotic) and gives the left another reason to drag religion through the mud. There’s plenty of reason to support the pro-life cause without citing God, and this is not, after all, a religious battle. It’s a battle of maintaining human dignity.
But I don’t get news like this enough. I recall my very pro-abortion teacher starting a discussion about this, and feeling very uplifted when most of my class–a lot of people I didn’t expect–speaking out against it. I later wrote a paper that convinced my liberal teacher, on some level, that abortion is indeed murder. Nothing like getting pleasantly surprised.
That’s good news, Abel. :)
I hope that this initiative succeeds. And, though I believe in God, I do agree with you that this makes atheists or non-Christians believe that this is a religious argument. The truth of the matter is that this is a human rights crisis. And really, it’s not political either. Many liberals are sensitive about the line between church and state, and this drives liberals away, too.
God never expressly said that life begins before birth; but science does.
But that’s not, in my personal opinion, the only thing that needs to change in the pro-life movement. We have a lot of work to do.
I have long thought that it was important to establish and promote the concept of the personhood of the preborn from conception. The
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE JOURNAL of Fairfax, Virginia (ceased publication a number of years ago) published a 1200 + word article that I wrote in their Fall 1983 issue. My article was simply titled “Personhood.”
I make no apologies for using the Christian Scriptures for establishing the personhood of the preborn. There is really no conflict between Biblical Christian teaching, medical science or philosophical logic in granting personhood to the unborn child from their earliest stage of development.
God-given right to life.
I don’t see that as any different than In God We Trust, which is on US currency.
Vannah,
For You created my inmost being, You knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
:)
I like that verse, Carla. Is that your favorite?
My favorite is Jeremiah 29:11 and the verses about being delivered from Babylon. I’m using those at the beginning of my book- the one that I wrote you about.
I didn’t mean that God doesn’t matter. I meant that we need to use more science in arguing this because not everyone (such as atheists or many liberals) are comfortable with that argument. But- oh happy day!- science is on our side.
By the way, I never thought that I would prefer science to philosophy, and I still don’t but I hope that people at least let science decide who gets to be a person rather than personal philosophy.
Colorado = happy happy joy joy
One of my favorite verses. :)
I prefer that we blast em with everything we’ve got!!
Science, God, prolife legislation, ultrasounds…The Truth!!
As I said, it’s just not a religious arguement. I don’t think people realize how scornful liberals are of religion unless they attempt to debate with a group of them–or live in an area where they press on you from all sides. It just isn’t going to broaden our horizons if we attempt to argue with God, because there are some people who just will not believe. And I think we need to pick up the pace, because lives are being lost, and if we muddle around attempting to convert the whole liberal movement it just won’t work. The people who are pro-abortion and also very religious know what they’re doing is wrong, and either are attempting to rebel or have been led astray (such as Mitt Romney, who by the way disgusts me). I’m pro-religion, I think it’s done a lot of beautiful things in this world, but science and philosophy is a much stronger stance to take.
You know I think it is all the same. Unneccasay evils. And I hate that animals are killed and I hate abortion. I think that all life is equal and that everyone should coexist. The problem is that there are generations of abortions and meat eating. What do you do for a girl that has been abused all her life, kicked out at a young age that knows nothing but bare basic survival. You won’t know these girls, but they are out there. And they get pregnant, and when an abused girl is pregnant she is terrified and she can only process one thought”how am i going to survive” Now unless we can stop that girl from being in that situation to begin with we can never stop or even condone abortion. And she will live with the tears and the scars that the tragedy of abortion has left her with and noone will see those tears or scars but she will cry everyday for her unborn children. No woman wants to let her baby die. No woman should be left alone to make this choice either.
Hi Brenda,
I try to help those girls. So do many people that comment here. I help them when they face an unplanned pregnancy and I even help them after they have had an abortion.
http://www.rachelsvineyard.org
I agree. I will regret my abortion until the day I die.
http://www.ignoreroe.com
Check it out.
Abel, Vannah,
While I agree that it is vital to make this debate outside of religious context, I also think it’s extremely important that we talk about it within religious context as well. I think it’s just a matter of playing to your audience. Don’t talk to an atheist about how God loves that little baby; they’re going to shut down as soon as you mention Him.
But when speaking with Christians especially, I feel that it is important to talk about God and His role in the fight for personhood. I think that some people just respond better than others to certain arguments.
But it’s true: science IS on our side. And more and more people are becoming open to that Truth. The reality of abortion is important to share. The reality of what the procedure does. The reality of who is hurt. The reality of who really cares about the woman. I hear fewer and fewer people arguing that pro-lifers (or “anti-choicers”) don’t care about the baby once its left the womb, mostly because I can point to a ton of different examples in which the opposite is true: Pro-lifers caring for the post-abortive mother, or for the young child, while pro-choicers leave them with nothing after but emptiness.
I think it’s important to argue the field in many different ways, though, and to try to hear what the other person is saying. The better you hear their arguments, the better prepared you can be to respond… and to actually hope to change a mind. I think we have to come at it from a stance of compassion, science, love, and religion. But we need to balance them and know what aspect to use against what argument. :)
My family and I gathered signatures for Colorado’s last personhood drive, talking with, literally, hundreds of people about pre-born children. Pro-aborts see most pro-lifers as hypocrites. Because, notable pro-lifers believe some babies (rape/incest) are not deserving of love and protection. Other pro-life leaders believe that States can decide the fate of innocent chldren.
Bill Clinton, once called pro-life protesters, hypocrites, because of the reasons listed above. And, he was right. And, many of the pro-aborts, we encountered (during the signature drive) had that same argument.
To those pro-aborts, we explained, “personhood” means EVERY pre-born child will be protected by
law. And, they got it – “finally, a bunch of pro-lifers, who, at least, aren’t hypocrites.”
And, of course the right to life comes from God. We don’t need to see ultra-sounds, to know that truth. Abraham, Moses, etc. had the right to life.
The Personhood movement is founded on our Lord, Jesus Christ. We proclaim His name, His saving grace, in our endeavors. And, if, we offend, so be it. We serve the Rock of Offense.
“God never expressly said that life begins before birth; but science does.”
Science may say that life begins before birth (just as the Bible affirms), but which of the laws of science tell us that murdering an innocent human being is wrong? Which of the laws of science tell us that owning a black man or killing a jew is wrong? What gives value to “human dignity?”
There is no value or morality apart from God. Trying to separate the two, for whatever reason, is shortsighted and foolish.
MBallentine,
“Pro-aborts see most pro-lifers as hypocrites. Because, notable pro-lifers believe some babies (rape/incest) are not deserving of love and protection.”
The word “hypocrite” is so over-used. Name-calling doesn’t move an argument forward. Let’s hope the word is banned from the discussions on “common ground”.
Happy Independence Day to all!
Good point, Janet. Maybe we can also stop comparing those who favor legal abortion to suicide bombers?
Hal, I think I made a valid argument on the other thread and I wasn’t calling anyone a hypocrite.
“A parent who sells their child to serve as a suicide bomber is not all that different from a parent who aborts their child because they “can’t afford” another child. It’s about money.
You know from being on this site as long as you have that there are MANY resources pregnant mothers can rely on for help with the medical expenses and the care of their child after it’s born. Money shouldn’t be a reason to abort, nor should money be a reason to turn one’s child into a suicide bomber.
Posted by: Janet at July 2, 2009 1:43 PM
I love the t-shirt on the video “A person is a person no matter how small”, thank you Dr. Suess and the Personhood USA people. I want everyone to hear that phrase a million times all over the world, because it is TRUE.
To address the “pro-lifers don’t care about women only about fetuses, they are hypocrites” lie. I would love to have a video of clips of the many women saying “CPCs helped me” and how they received FREE, CONFIDENTIAL help over the last 20 plus years. I would suggest someone total the doctor visits, prenatal care visits, medical care visits, GED classes, the girls and women who remained in school, the women who have gone back to school, job training, childbirth classes, parenting classes, earn while you learn classes, cribs, car seats, strollers, baby clothes, maternity clothes, suicide attempts intercepted, diapers, babies adopted, presentations on life-skills, abstinence, STDs, refusal skills and all of the counseling sessions given. I and thousands of others have been involved providing services to these women because we care for them and their babies. These women don’t pay us a dime, we don’t want their money. I don’t want to hear anyone say this crap anymore about pro-lifers don’t care about women. IT IS A BOLD-FACED LIE. PP LIES TO YOU. Total of the millions of dollars PP has made at $300-500 a pop to end babies lives. All you so-called “pro-choicers” stop with the lies about how much you care about women. You support the choice to kill innocent, unborn babies no matter what and we put our time and money where our mouth is, you support the choice for a woman to end up with a mutilated, dead baby for any reason she wants. Your “right to choose” has stopped 50 million beating hearts and broken the hearts and spirits of millions of women and men (men who bought the lies and are just now coming to terms with the truth of what they have done to their unborn babies). God help you and this nation.
Pro-lifer L,
According to the article linked below, “Audrey Geisel, the widow of Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel has a long history of financially supporting Planned Parenthood ”
“…. It has been well known for years around San Diego that the Geisels were pro-abortion and active supporters of the local Planned Parenthood affiliate,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger, who lived in San Diego for 23 years. “Many years ago, I remember seeing Dr. Seuss at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser that we were protesting. People find it hard to believe that someone who could write such amazing children’s stories could support the brutal killing of innocent children through abortion. His wife, Audrey, has been very active in her support for the abortion group over the years, and our documents prove that.”
“No matter how pro-life the message may appear, people need to be aware that some of the money people spend on Dr. Seuss books and movies ends up in the coffers of Planned Parenthood and ultimately helps perpetuate the killing of innocent children through abortion,” said Sullenger. “It is something they should think hard about before they buy their tickets to ‘Horton Hears A Who.’”
http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/documents-prove-dr-seuss’s-widow-is-long-time-supporter-of-planned-parenthood/
I would be hesitant to buy Dr. Seuss books for this reason.
http://www.PersonhoodAmendments.com
has more info on News, Background, History, and Research of Personhood Amendments (aka Human Life Amendments).
Another site is: http://www.PersonhoodMovement.com