If you are a Mississippian, you are fully aware that social media, tv, and newspapers are filled with people offering their opinions about Amendment 26. Quite frankly, I am ready for next Tuesday to be over so all this talk will disappear. Up until this time, I have resisted my natural urges to be confrontational and debate this issue. But not hearing satisfactory answers from either side has led me to make my views known.
So what is Amendment 26 and what is it not. I think I am correct in saying this, but on the ballot on this coming Tuesday, here is what you will see under Statewide Initiative No. 26:
"Should the term 'person' be defined to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the equivalent thereof?"
Have you guys heard that? I have not. All I hear is people rambling (no pun intended) on about the consequences about saying yes/no to that statement. This is all 26 is. The amendment itself is pretty plain and easy to understand. Now what everyone asking is what is the consequences if this is passed.
And guess what? I have the answer for you, and it should be common sense. NO ONE KNOWS! Now you can sleep easy at night feeling satisfied that you have the answer to the question. So I am done. Goodnight. God Bless 'Merica.
So if you are like me and that does not exactly satisfy you as an answer, hopefully I can convince you of it.
I may be young, but as a student of politics and news, I have seen several trends. First off, any time a law is getting passed, you have all these outside groups lobbying their position, good or bad. Both make claims to the effect of: "If this law passes, this will happen... "If this law does not pass, this will happen..." Now take 26, people say, if 26 passes, birth control will be banned and doctors will be prosecuted for not saving the life of the mother among tons of other claims. As with most laws, fear mongering from either side can happen. But if you keep up with the news like I do, what happens when a controversial law passes? As soon as it passes or before it takes effect, lawsuits rain down from the sky like manna from heaven. President Obama's health care law has multiple lawsuits pending and it has not even taken effect yet. Arizona and Alabama's immigration laws have lawsuits keeping them from taking effect until all the issues have been deliberated. The point is, if Amendment 26 passes, it will not reach the stage for it to take effect and be enforced because outside groups like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU will file lawsuits to prevent it from taking effect.
But let us suppose that it passes and no lawsuit is filed or the lawsuits are dismissed. The law takes effect. It is still up to the state to decide how to enforce that law. For instance, on the Mississippi law books there are these laws: 1. A man may not seduce a woman by lying, and claiming he will marry her. 2. One may be fined $100 for using "profane language" in public places. 3. Cattle rustling is punishable by hanging. 4. Adultery or Fornication results in a fine of $500 and/or 6 months in prison. And the list goes on and on and on. When was the last time that you know someone that was fined $100 for cursing in a restaurant or grocery store. To my knowledge, I have not seen this happen. Why? Because the state decides how to enforce the law. While the law is on the book, it is up to the state to decide how to enforce it. The same will happen here. The state will choose what to do about doctors who perform abortions, etc... But let us also suppose that the state decides that if a doctor saves a mother's life by abortion, he will be prosecuted for murder. The whole lawsuit cycle will ensue again. Most likely, public outrage will be extremely high. And if I had to make a guess, the doctor would be let off and the law would be adjusted to grant an exception.
So why does everyone worry about the negative consequences of a law before it passes when history teaches us that with a controversial issue, the courts will have their hands full deciding what to do about the law before it can even take effect?
Next, I appeal to Christian ideals. If you are a Christian, you should be pro-life. The sanctity of life is clear from the Bible. But alas, we will not get into this topic. Let us just assume for the moment that if you are Christian, you are pro-life. First, if you are pro-choice, then there is no reason for you to vote "yes" on the amendment unless you just want to (which is incidentally fine by me). But if you are a Christian (pro-life), I personally believe there is only one choice. Your duty is to vote a resounding "YES" on Amendment 26. Here is why I believe that. Does all this worrying about unintended consequences negate the fact that abortion is murder? NO. If you believe abortion is murder, your Christian duty is to stand up against this injustice the same way you get upset at people getting killed in Sudan, Libya, and Syria and seeing starving children around the world. These issues spark something in you that says, "This is not right. Maybe I can help in some small way." Why does abortion not do the same thing? My own personal believe is that this happens because abortion is in my eyes, legalized murder where other crimes committed or injustices worldwide do not have US governmental backing (mostly anyways).
Now let us suppose that there are unintended consequences of this law (No BC, doctors prosecuted, etc...). By saying, "I will not support this law because of (insert consequence here)," in my opinion, you are in effect saying, human life is not priceless. You are saying, "I am pro-life, but as long (insert here)." To me, this is an absolute travesty that we would defiantly declare to be pro-life but place essentially a dollar amount on the value of a life. Even if BC is banned, doctors are prosecuted, and mothers are prosecuted, human life is still priceless. As a consequence, abortion should be banned regardless of the unintended consequences that happen because of a law. 26 sets us on the path to hopefully accomplish that.
Finally, I appeal to the masses who complain about the law being "poorly written or "not clear." This may surprise you. The law is excellently written in my opinion. Why? Because abortion is already banned under MS law! It is illegal to have an abortion in MS unless you have the typical exceptions that follow such as rape, incest, saving the life of the mother. If 26 said, "Should abortion be illegal (maybe with exceptions)?" what would that accomplish if it passed? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Even though abortion is mostly illegal in MS, the state cannot enforce the law because of Roe v. Wade. So what other options are there? A state can come out and say abortion is illegal in said state, but it does nothing because of US Supreme Court ruling. But what if instead of defining a law outlawing abortion, a law defines what a person is? This is I believe, the best opportunity we have in our lifetime to get the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the Roe v. Wade debate again. We have tried the abortion is illegal route, and we have not gotten anywhere. It is time to move on to another route. Keep in mind that if it passes, lawsuits galore will ensue, which will hopefully work its way up to the top. If the law does not pass, we are back to square zero. Mississippians, keep in mind that the passing of this law will have practically no effect for years to come.
If you did not gather, I hold very strong believes about this issue. I am very passionate about it. It is my strong desire and prayer that this law passes to hopefully and eventually get rid of the abomination known as abortion. But if it does not pass, it will at least give me another concrete example in explaining to internationals why America is not a Christian nation. If this law does not pass in Mississippi, in the heart of the Bible belt, where studies show us to be the most religious state in the nation(which means mostly Christian in our case), this law will have absolutely no chance of passing anywhere else and the fight to end abortion will be set back for years to come in my opinion.
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