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Matthew Hurt
Next Tuesday, on Election Day, those in Mississippi will be voting on a constitutional referendum that would declare all unborn children “persons.”
Proposition 26, which will appear on the ballot in the state, would declare persons as “every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the equivalent therof.”
In February 2010, Personhood Mississippi submitted more than 130,000 signatures supporting this referendum to appear on the ballot, which was much more than the 89,285 required.
If the referendum passes, it would be the first law of its kind in the U.S.
My first thought on this referendum is: It’s about time. At the risk of being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for being Christian, I personally believe that life begins at conception because all life is God-breathed, and I’m not going to apologize for that.
While many on the pro-life side of the aisle have been trying for years to get the government to define the beginning point of life as this or something similar, those on the pro-choice side have struggled to come to a consensus.
Some think when a baby is able to survive on its own, then it is a person. Some think life begins once the baby is born.
Is a simple heartbeat not good enough for them? Or how about the simple fact that the baby is growing?
When exactly do they want to define the start of life? When a child is able to fit into a size six
shoe?
I certainly applaud the efforts of the Mississippi citizens for taking the initiative to protect innocent life.
It’s kind of hard to have an intelligent discussion about life and abortion when opponents are sinking to vandalism of pro-Proposition 26 signs.
Owners of a southern Mississippi gas station had to call police when a woman attacked a Proposition 26 sign there.
On a side note, just two weeks ago, someone tore my “Abortion is Homicide” sticker on my car while it was parked in the garage on campus.
I rest my case about being able to carry on an intelligent conversation about this issue.
The rhetoric from the left is all wrong, too (but what else is new).
A version of this article appeared in the Nov 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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sooo then would then would anybody born in mississipi be 9 months older on their birth certificate than people in other states? would they send a death certificate for a miscarriage? could I collect SS, Medicare, and write off a dependent on my taxes before this person has exited the womb? While I'm not a proponent of abortion, the wording of this amendment, in my opinion, leaves open a lot of legal questions that I think could be remedied by focusing the amendment on abortion. Also, it won't matter because the supreme court has declared abortion a woman's right guaranteed by the federal constitutional rights (14th amendment due process/privacy in this case) will overrule state constitutional rights.
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Matthew,
I agree with you on abortion. However, being that you are president of the college Republicans... do you support all these foreign wars? If so, how can you be pro-life while supporting actions by your government that kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people in other countries?
Thou shall not kill. Period.
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Actually the Bible says thou shalt not kill unless in self-defense. I think that keeping terrorists from attacking the US is self-defense. But that is the topic of another article.
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What happened to turning the other cheek?
Yea the bible also has a lot of other enlightening things to say, like how to sell your family into slavery to pay off yoru debt, or how to discipline your slaves. The bible never explicitly says anything about abortion even though it was still a common practice back then. Maybe "Christians" should start reverting back to Christ's teachings rather than the barbaric, bigoted, invasive practices that they have seemed to adopt.
Matthew 18:25: "But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made."
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Abortion should not be a political issue. It shouldn't even be a societal issue. It is an issue for each individual person.
Can we waste a little more of societies time as we go down the tubes with all of our other problems?
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Dealing with reality on reality's terms seems to be a step to far for Mr. Hurt and others like him. This unwillingness to bend ideology to the pressure of reality IS a societal problem, and we all have to deal with the consequences of it.
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"It’s kind of hard to have an intelligent discussion about life and abortion when opponents are sinking to vandalism of pro-Proposition 26 signs."
It's also kind of hard when you write an article filled with ad-hominems, irrelevant crap, and bad arguments. You presuppose that a single cell with human DNA is a person, but that's partly what the abortion question is about. Something like 20% of the time, when a sperm fertilizes an egg it doesn't even implant, the woman just has her period as usual. It's no great tragedy, no one pretends to treat it as though it is. Because single cells aren't people. For the first few weeks a human fetus isn't even distinguishable from the embryos of other mammals.
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I'm perplexed. What intelligent discussion does Mr. Hurt want to have on the subject? It seems like he wants others to accept his interpretation of his religion by fiat. That isn't going to lead to a discussion.
Maybe he wants to discuss how it is possible that his god gives souls to zygotes that his god knows are not going to survive the natural gestation process?
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I love how many (not all, there are exceptions) of the pro-life, conservative factions decry abortion as killing and consider Planned Parenthood an evil name.
In reality, Planned Parenthood PREVENTS more abortions than any other organization in the United States, by providing fair access to birth control.
A lot of pro-lifers are really strictly anti-sex, not actually pro-life. A great example of this, which was used in Matthew's article, is that many pro-life people believe that an abortion should be legal in the case of rape. That is, it's okay to "murder" because, after all, it wasn't the woman's fault she got raped! While I absolutely think women should bear no responsibility or guilt after a rape, I think this raises a huge logical fallacy in pro-life arguments, that the incredible responsibility of bearing and raising a child into the world should be given to those darned loose women who opened their legs. This is what burned me about Matthew's argument, his whole assertion about using abortion as birth control. That's such an anti-sex position, so don't hide it under the guise of helping innocent babies.
If pro-life individuals took their mission to heart, they would be the ones handing out condoms on the Drillfield, that's all I'm saying. Not antagonizing women outside of clinics and blaming a public health organization like Planned Parenthood that works for many good causes.
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Yes, the government's place is in every gynecologists & obstetricians clinic. It will be needed to monitor the ban on all contraceptives. By law all pregnancies (including from rape) & miscarriages (or possible murder?) will have to be registered by physicians to monitor for criminal activity. This is not an intrusion since women should lose all rights to their body at the minute of conception.
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I like this comment.
I really don't get why abortion is such a big political deal here. (Well, I do. Hi there right wing Christians!). But it shouldn't
A woman deserves the right to her own body, and to do with it as she pleases. The government has no place in that. Those who oppose abortions seem to be anti-sex.
And Planned Parenthood is a wonderful thing - it informs women about their bodies - and let me tell you, I didn't learn a thing about contraception in my high school health class. It was, to take a phrase from Mean Girls - "If you have sex, you will get and STD, get pregmant, and DIE".
I think 'abstinence only' health class is detrimental to everyone, but that's another matter.
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Whoops - 'I like this comment' was referring to 1:12 am anon up there.
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Matthew Hurt,
I can participate in a strawman fallacy too:
"It’s kind of hard to have an intelligent discussion about life and abortion when": conservatives are busy bombing abortion clinics and killing abortion doctors.
Obviously this statement is a gross over-generalization, as is your characterization of the pro-choice movement.
I also liked the intellectual theft of Ann Coulter without proper source citation:
"those in the liberal media like to refer to partial-birth abortion as “what its
opponents refer to as partial-birth abortion.” Um, what exactly do its supporters call it? Happy hour? The JC Penney One Day Only Sale?"
-This is just a more sensationalized version of a quote from Coulter.
How about you stick to writing facts in your articles instead of custom tailoring them to smear your opponents?
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It seems that Mr. Hurt is either unwilling or unable to justify his positions and instead relies on libel and slander. I'd hoped for better from the president of the College Republicans.
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It seems that Mr. Hurt is more concerned with scoring political victories than in preventing the suffering of his fellow human beings.
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It seems Leopard Zeus is more interesting than slamming Mr. Hurt than actually discussing the topic
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Valkyria ,
do you not know that your body is the temple / sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
you are not of your own!!. you were bought with a price !!
so then , honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
GOD
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Valkyria,
As a deity, I support your right to have control over your own reproductive choices. The other deities, especially ones that want you to be slaves to their will, are evil.
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Missippi has the chance on nov 8th to become the 1st state in the union to follow a path marked by the left- leaning justices of 38 yrs. ago by following dr. seuss' wisdom and declaring that " a persons a person no matter how small " i hope and pray that MISS. voters will cast a resounding vote for " LIFE ". may the death tolls for ROE v WADE begin ringing throughout the land ! Psalm 139 : 13-15
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Dr. Seuss wasn't writing about zygotes in 'Horton Hears a Who!'.
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Dr. Seuss grossly opposed the use of this quote to defend outlawing abortion. Believe what you want, but I think it's really unfair to use this man's words against him, when he and his spouse expressly stated that they did not support that context.
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I'm absolutely sick and tired of Christians and other faith groups complaining of persecution while simultaneously working incessantly to force the rest of the nation to conform to and obey their bronze-age desert beliefs.
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Matthew,
I'm very liberal in my views, and admit that I can sometimes be a bit biased, but I cannot take your article seriously. Even if I was conservative, your article would have me feeling ashamed. Your shots at liberals are ridiculous and absurd. The tone in your article is extremely snarky and I would expect better from the President of the College Republicans. Talking down to liberals as if we aren't smart enough to understand your sub-par writing is unbelievable: "Just so you liberals can better understand..." Are you serious?
Your article is disgusting and offensive. Normally, I respect the opinion of my peers, but I cannot see eye to eye with you from this reading. You proclaim yourself as an avid Christian, so I would assume you would be more respectful. The article presented to the readers by yourself is something I would expect to see on FOX, which is probably what you were aiming for.
In my opinion, your article "has no merit" on our campus.
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And the supposed 'personhood' thing (amendment to the Mississippi constitution or bill, can't remember which), is really terrifying. Because it just doesn't restrict abortions - which is bad enough - it seems like another one of its purposes is to limit women's access to birth control. The morning after pill would no longer be legal in Mississippi.
It would be scary to be a woman in Mississippi if this measure passes.
Apparently Mississippi hasn't been keeping up on its history - Griswold v. Connecticut and Eisenstadt vs. Baird both give a 'right to privacy' - Roe v. Wade cited these cases.
Mississippi Rebel and selah, believe what you want to, do what you you desire with your body, in your own privacy, but please, my body is my own. I won't criticize what you do with your body, please don't criticize me. And the government has no place in my decisions regarding that. Precedent, and all.
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And the supposed 'personhood' thing (amendment to the Mississippi constitution or bill, can't remember which), is really terrifying. Because it just doesn't restrict abortions - which is bad enough - it seems like another one of its purposes is to limit women's access to birth control. The morning after pill would no longer be legal in Mississippi.
It would be scary to be a woman in Mississippi if this measure passes.
Apparently Mississippi hasn't been keeping up on its history - Griswold v. Connecticut and Eisenstadt vs. Baird both give a 'right to privacy' - Roe v. Wade cited these cases.
Mississippi Rebel and selah, believe what you want to, do what you you desire with your body, in your own privacy, but please, my body is my own. I won't criticize what you do with your body, please don't criticize me. And the government has no place in my decisions regarding that. Precedent, and all.
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It's not just the morning after pill--it would include many popular and extremely common forms of birth control: the pill and the IUD. Both prevent implantation of fertilized eggs (among other effects), and thus would be outlawed. As would IVF which requires the destruction of fertilized embryos. Look forward to all miscarriages being investigated as crimes.
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Eileen,
Life and personhood are two different things. There is bacteria crawling in my sink that is alive. Under U.S. law, corporations have the full right of "personhood." If statements about life were taken seriously in U.S. law, why would we grant these inalienable rights to corporate entities?
The reason is because biology, believe it or not, is not the only thing that informs the law. Having life does not make you a person. A tapeworm that crawls in my body is a separate, parasitic body that is alive, but nobody has any problem surgically removing and killing it.
I also suggest you amend your use of the great persecution and abuse of Jews and black people in your argument. It's incredibly offensive to ethnic groups that endured centuries of hardship and genocide. This is not a genocide, if only because fetuses are aborted at random. It's also really stupid to mention eugenics, because abortion (in the U.S.) does not forcibly suppress an ethnic group.
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Apologies for the double post - this was meant to be nested in Selah/Leopard Zeus's thread
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Mr. Hurt's position is certainly a surprising one. It is very rare to find a gay man who is not in support of women's reproductive rights. But then again, political identities tend to trump sexual identities.
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Where did you read that he was gay? Am I missing something, or are you just slandering him because he holds a different opinion?
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I'm pretty sure that anyone who's talked to him knows he's gay. He just can't admit it because god would send him to hell
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Thought so - I was reading up on the measure as I was writing, but I wasn't exactly sure about the pill and the IUD. (Was aware of the IVF measure.)
At any rate, the measure is appalling.
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The problem with this Mississippi law is that it would criminalize birth control. Besides, many women simply cannot afford to have and raise a child, especially without a father. Abortion can be banned when Republicans decides to pony up the cash to support a strong, well-funded welfare program that supports single mothers. What about rape or incest? Who am I to tell a rape victim she has to carry the child to term? Then, if you say abortion only in cases of rape or incest, what's to stop a girl from lying so she can avoid a pregnancy? I think there might be a lot of innocent guys sent to prison.
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It could potentially convict a women if her fetus dies....say, if she accidentally exercised too hard, or ate too many McDoubles. I am thrilled that Miss did not pass the measure. It's a victory for all women.
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Maybe you can explain why even though the eagle is no longer an endangered species, its eggs are still federally protected while they’re still in the mother eagle; once they are laid; through the 35-day incubation period and beyond through hatching. In fact, even the nonliving eagle egg shell is protected by the federal law. We're talking a $100,000 fine! Shouldn't a human baby have at least the same protection under the law?
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Some quick Googling finds this: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/index.html . That page explains why the eggs, as well as the eagles themselves are still protected. It's because there are several pieces of legislation protecting bald eagles, above and beyond the Endangered Species Act.
According to that page, eagle nests are protected as well. By your reasoning, shouldn't we give personhood to any uterus that contains a fertilized egg?
The reason every part of the bird and all things associated with it are protected is that some deluded people believe the eagle has mystical powers and will kill them and disturb their habitats to harness that power.
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No. The eagle protections are not really to keep individuals from killing baby eagles, it's not like that's a national pastime. The eagle protections are to stop large companies from wrecking havoc on the ecosystem and thus endangering eagles at large. Can you please argue about abortion instead of trying to fling non sequiturs around??
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Look, don't get me wrong. Valuing human life is important. But you have got to look at the big picture here. The majority of abortions are probably performed for the lower class lacking education on birth control and probably lacking the funds to take care of a child. Chances are the kid will grow up with a single parent struggling to get by. The kid will grow up with a crappy home life and be living off government aid. Why force a woman to bring a child into this world if, chances are, they are just going to suffer? My taxes take care of enough unwanted, unplanned children. People should NOT have children unless they are capable of providing for them. And HELLO, have you looked around lately? The world just hit its SEVEN BILLIONTH person! Christians may think we are obligated to save human life, but what about the other obligation of taking care of the Earth?! I hate to sound insensitive, but the last thing we need right now is more people.
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Thankfully, it looks like the 'personhood' measure failed in Mississippi.
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How is it possible?? Matthew said it would pass by a fair margin! I'll bet the ACLU intimidated supporters into staying home by threatening to sue them for being Christians! Damn them!
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true that. as a Christian, I am more concerned with the divorce rate than abortion rate.
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