From a story in the New York Times:
With this far-reaching anti-abortion strategy, the proponents of what they call personhood amendments hope to reshape the national debate.
“I view it as transformative,” said Brad Prewitt, a lawyer and executive director of the Yes on 26 campaign, which is named for the Mississippi proposition. “Personhood is bigger than just shutting abortion clinics; it’s an opportunity for people to say that we’re made in the image of God.”
The amendment faces some unlikely opposition, however. In Mississippi, and in other states where similar amendments are pending, local bishops and National Right to Life have expressed reservations about the strategy, even if they are sympathetic to the overall goal. They say the "personhood" amendment could backfire on the pro-life movement by forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to take dramatic action, thereby undoing the slow but steady chipping away of abortion rights over recent years.
More from the Times story:
But many leaders of the anti-abortion movement fear that the strategy will be counterproductive. Federal courts would almost surely declare the amendment unconstitutional, said James Bopp Jr., a prominent conservative lawyer from Terre Haute, Ind., and general counsel of National Right to Life, since it contradicts a woman’s current right to an abortion in the early weeks of pregnancy.
“From the standpoint of protecting unborn lives it’s utterly futile,” he said, “and it has the grave risk that if it did get to the Supreme Court, the court would write an even more extreme abortion policy.”
Bishop Joseph Latino of Jackson, Miss., said in a statement last week that the Roman Catholic Church does not support Proposition 26 because “the push for a state amendment could ultimately harm our efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade.”
Conservative Christian groups including the American Family Association and the Family Research Council are firmly behind the proposal.
So what's your take on this strategy? Is it potentially harmful to the movement or a necessary step in recognizing the humanity of the unborn?
