BREAKING: Mississippi 'Person At Fertilization' Ballot Initiative Defeated; AP Calls It

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press / MSNBC

Via Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC

https://twitter.com/#!/AP/status/134112010072887296

@AP
The Associated Press
BREAKING NEWS: Mississippi voters reject amendment that would have effectively banned abortions in the state.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2011/by_county/MS_Initiative_1108.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS

---

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/anti-abortion-personhood-amendment-fails-in-mississippi/2011/11/08/gIQASRPd3M_blog.html

Anti-abortion ‘personhood’ amendment fails in Mississippi

Posted by Aaron Blake at 10:38 PM ET, 11/08/2011

Anti-abortion ‘personhood’ amendment fails in Mississippi
Posted by Aaron Blake at 10:38 PM ET, 11/08/2011

Mississippi would have become the first state to define a fertilized egg as a person, a measure which was aimed at outlawing abortion in the state but, opponents contended, would have led to all kinds of unintended consequences.

In the end, those concerns won out in a strongly anti-abortion state. The amendment trailed 59 percent to 41 percent with more than half of precincts reporting. The Associated Press has said it will fail.

Had the measure passed, many thought it would have lead to a new natiowide dialogue on abortion.

MORE


http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52874261-90/state-ohio-law-mississippi.html.csp

Mississippi voters reject ‘personhood’ amendment

By The Associated Press

First published 57 minutes ago
Updated 1 minute ago

The so-called personhood initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling.

- snip -

Opponents said the measure could make birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. It could also deter physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they would fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn’t survive.

Supporters were trying to impose their religious beliefs on others by forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest, opponents said.

Amy Brunson voted against the measure, in part because she has been raped. She also has friends and family that had children through in vitro fertilization and she was worried this would end that process.

MORE

[femrap]

1. More happiness

tonight! Thank you people of MS.

[cally]

2. woohoo!!!!

amazing that the polls were close but the vote wasn't

[DinahMoeHum]

3. Down goes the "Every Sperm Is Sacred" Act.

:evilgrin:

[gateley]

4. Norman Goldman said he was surprised it wasn't called "Life Begins at Erection". nt

[Kennah]

5. Love the penis, hate the vagina

Oops, sorry. I got carried away and thought we were spoofing RW talking points.

I mean there's no way that the RW, ummm, er, maybe I hit it on the head--no pun intended.

[russspeakeasy]

14. Now...that is funny. Thanks gately.

[callous taoboy]

38. BWAAAA ha ha ha ha ha!

[wordpix]

51. hahaha, good one

[defendandprotect]

7. +1 --

[Skittles]

6. thank you, Mississippi voters

[Blaq Dem]

8. Didn't think MS voters would reject, thank God they did!

It's a fact, MS is the dumbest state in the country. Low education = wall-to-wall CONservatives in office. I'm glad the people there are wise enough to see through the republiKKKlan bullcrap. Let it be known that in times of crisis, the GOP will NOT have your back!


Maybe they'll put Dupree in as governor tonight also.

[lbrtbell]

9. Even Bible thumbers want their birth control - n/t

[bertman]

10. Two VICTORIES in ONE DAY. Mississippi and Ohio. REC. nt

[rpannier]

27. Arizona was another

Arizona Topples Senate President Russell Pearce, SB 1070 Immigration Law Architect, in Historic Recall

[AllyCat]

49. Good on you AZ! I might actually come there to visit now :)

[freshwest]

11. K & R

[Javaman]

12. Mississippi rejects vote!

Source: MSNBC.COM

hot off the presses!!

No link yet.

[cal04]

13. Mississippi defeats life at conception ballot initiative

Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would've declared life begins at conception, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide.

The proposal was pushed by a Colorado-based group, Personhood USA. The group's co-founder, Keith Mason, says he intends to renew efforts in Mississippi, either through legislation or through another ballot initiative.

The group is trying to put similar initiatives on 2012 ballots in Florida, Montana, Ohio and Oregon, Nevada and California. Mason said the group plans to pursue life-at-fertilization legislation next year in Alabama, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Voters in Colorado rejected similar ballot initiatives in 2008 and 2010.

http://www.wlbt.com/story/15993188/mississippi-voters-reject-personhood-amendment

[toddwv]

15. Suck on that regressives!

I know that it's just one out of many but it's so important that this kind of "taliban" legislation be stopped.

[kestrel91316]

16. Ha ha.

[SoapBox]

17. Congratulations to the Normal and Sane in Mississippi.

Excellant.

[VWolf]

41. It's sad that 41% are abnormal and insane,

but we'll take it.

[uppityperson]

18. Good. k&r and thanks to those who voted against this piece of crap.

[No Elephants]

19. The state overreached, including a ban on both contraceptives and IVF.

Even among the far religious right, only a few nutters would vote against contraception and IVF.

[krabigirl]

20. Wonderful news!!

[DeSwiss]

21. Mississippi Votes Down Amendment To Define Personhood At Fertilization

Source: TPMMuckraker

Mississippi Votes Down Amendment To Define Personhood At Fertilization

TPMMuckraker | Eric Kleefeld | November 8, 2011, 10:57 PM



The state of Mississippi has now provided the answer to an interesting political test: How severe must a proposed piece of pro-life legislation be, for it to fail in the Deep South?

Voters on Tuesday rejected ballot Initiative 26, which would have defined personhood as beginning at fertilization. With 63% of the vote reporting, the ‘No’ position is leading by a margin of 57%-43%, and has been projected as the winner by the http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2011/by_county/MS_Page_1108.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS">Associated Press.

The proposal, http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/mississippi_to_vote_on_personhood_initiative_that_could_outlaw_birth_control.php">initiated through petitions by pro-life activists, would have outlawed not only abortion but many forms of birth control that can prevent the uterine implantation of a fertilized egg.

The proposal obviously conflicted with the right to an abortion as decided in the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, and if passed could have set up a potential Supreme Court battle to overturn Roe. It was opposed by the state Medical Association and Nurses Association.

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/mississippi_votes_down_amendment_to_define_personhood. php

---

- Whoa, Mississippi! Way to go!!!

So take it easy now. This was a bold move for such a deeply southern state. And I know coming from the 19th century into the 20th the air is rich and heady here, but you can do it and more. Don't get up too fast or try to reverse everything at once. But you've made a wonderful start. You keep this up and I see a beautiful future ahead for ya.

Now about that stupid governor of yours....

DeSwiss


How can we have a decent Police State if you people keep
voting for laws that give yourselves.... you know... RIGHTS!?!?!




"I'm interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice." ~Clint Eastwood

[tblue]

22. I think most people have a problem with imprisoning women

for something as intensely personal as this. So the radical nature of this bill was its own undoing, and rightly so. I think it also ignited a spark in the Democratic base, which could bode well for 2012 and puts the 2010 Democratic bloodbath in the rearview window.

So glad Mississippi, the heart of the Bible Belt, saved itself tonight. My faith is renewed more and more every day.

[DeSwiss]

24. Agreed. n/t

[rpannier]

28. Even Haley Barbour began to distance himself from this

I knew it was in trouble when he had reservations

[caseymoz]

23. If they can't get this through in Mississippi, it'll lose everywhere.

This is a huge victory for reproductive rights. And anti-choicers can't say that people just didn't understand the issue.

[DeSwiss]

25. The only question is, who will these naybobs turn their righteousness onto now? n/t

[rpannier]

29. Teh gay

When in doubt, they go after GLBT people

[caseymoz]

31. Anti-choicers? They'll try some different tact, but the "personhood" approach is dead.

The important thing is, though, this means that the public has rejected the whole basis of their argument. "Life begins at conception" has been repudiated. If they win anything else, it has to be on the basis of something less extreme.

So, this was probably their peak.

[wordpix]

52. They'll be back - these nutcases never quit

[caseymoz]

54. Yes, but they're going to give up on trying to persuade people the fetus is a person.

At least for ballot initiatives, though they believe it themselves.

[Cronus Protagonist]

26. That could have been a wedge aginst corporate personhood..

What if all states were to define a person as "a person who was brought forth from the womb of a woman" - that would end corporate personhood...

[CrispyQ]

45. I like your Clint Eastwood quote.

Very apt for today.

[ismnotwasm]

30. right on

Good news for a change

[Thor_MN]

32. The ammendment at face value is ridiculous

It would require that CPS take custody of every frozen embryo and find adoptive parents for it. Taking a "person" and storing them at cryogenic temperatures would have to be reckless endangerment. What responsible parent could do such a thing to their "child"? And where are they going to find wombs to take care of these "children" What happens to the government when some these "children" die while under government protection?

[harun]

39. Even the Catholic Church thought the amendment was nuts.

[customerserviceguy]

55. When I saw that the catholics were not for it

I figured anything that was too extreme for them had no chance of passage.

[tanyev]

46. Not to mention all the anchor embryos that would then qualify for American citizenship.

[AllyCat]

50. I'd laugh if this was not so sad.

[AngryOldDem]

33. Thank God

That was one scary amendment.

Glad people saw through it and used their common sense.

[lovuian]

34. woohoo

:woohoo:

[lindysalsagal]

35. BEST NEWS! EVER!

Put that together with Ohio and we the people are in better shape than I dared hope.

Don't like abortion? Don't have one!
:spank:

[NM Independent]

36. Awesome!! It's a bad day to be a conservative! I bet the freepers are freaking out. n/t

[bread_and_roses]

37. More good news! More than good! Mississippi!

I didn't even dare to hope on this one. Thank you, 50+% of Mississippi voters!

[Mad_Dem_X]

40. YES!

Reason triumphs...thank you, Mississippi voters! :applause:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

42. Not all brains have been washed---in fact, this proves

the majority haven't, 'specially in a state where the christofacsist propaganda finds such fertile ground.



:applause: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[young but wise]

43. K&R.

[felix_numinous]

44. K&R

What a relief. Of course these people would never consider sperm personhood, that's just nuts.

[iandhr]

47. Something that is too wacko for Mississippi says a lot

[AllyCat]

48. Good news! It was a night of much good news.

[Vehl]

53. K & R

[Odin2005]

56. YAY!!!!!!