A recent letter to the editor in the Mississippi Sun Herald raised some important questions about so-called “Personhood” amendments like the one that will soon be voted on in Mississippi. In a response, the American Life League dismisses claims that the passage of such an amendment could open the door to unintended consequences. # “Personhood” amendments across the country aim to ban abortion but, as some suggest, their passage could mean that women seeking abortions would be put in jail
“„Once the state approves the amendment, and it survives a challenge at the Supreme Court level, the state legislature will have to examine how it wants to develop the criminal law that would be put in place to provide legal protections for the child not yet born. Whether or not criminal charges would be assessed for the expectant mother who pays an abortionist for the act itself remains to be seen. However, using the specter of possible criminal penalty to scare Americans into voting against a proposed amendment that would do nothing more than recognize the human rights of persons prior to birth is not only ridiculous but misleading and deceptive. #