Personhood for the Unborn

• What does God say about it?

• What you can do?

WHY SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS ISSUE?

• We must stand up for God’s principles, especially the sanctity of life.

• We must speak against the destruction of innocent human life who are created in the image of God.

• We must be watchman, our brother’s keepers—not just for the unborn but for the other victims of abortion that need healing—especially mothers of aborted children.

• We must expose deception.  Most prochoice advocates don’t know what they’re supporting.

• We must restore the US Constitution as the basis for governing our nation.

• There are consequences of abortion; our nation is being judged.

• Psalms 139:13,14

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works...

• Psalms 127:3-5

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them…

• Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

• Isaiah 49:15,16Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have carved you on the palms of My hands…

• John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

OVER 50 MILLION SACRED UNBORN LIVES DESTROYED IN THE UNITED STATES

SINCE 1973

HOW HAS ABORTION BECOME SO ACCEPTABLE?

• “It’s the law….Get over it!”

• The truth is kept from people.

ROE V WADE WAS AND IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

• The US Constitution does not contain a right to privacy.

• Roe v Wade became federal law in 1973, based on right to privacy.

• It was made law by an unconstitutional process.

• The unconstitutional process becomes precedent.

• Once it’s the law, and precedent is made, it is easier to accept and to support legally.

WHY PROCHOICE PROPAGANDA ACCEPTED

UNCRITICALLY• Clever use of language

• Avoid images of the unborn, especially those aborted

• Lie about abortion prior to Roe v Wade, risk of pregnancy

• Use of emotional appeal of hard cases (<3% for rape, incest, life of mother)

LANGUAGE IS POWERFUL

• Lovely sounding clichés disguise the reality of abortion—prochoice, reproductive liberty, right to privacy, my body-my choice, Every child a wanted child

• Vilify the opposition—call Prolifers anti-choice, anti-abortion

• Dehumanize the unborn—called product of conception, blob of tissue, fertilized egg, blood clot, venereal disease, fetal material embryo, fetus, but never the “B” word (baby)

• Change the meaning of “person”• Describe abortion as “scraping the lining of the

uterus” or “terminating the pregnancy.”

UNQUESTIONABLY, HUMAN LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION

PROCHOICE ADVOCATES KNOW THAT HUMAN LIFE

BEGINS IN THE WOMB— the preborn

are individuals

distinct from mother

CONTRADICTIONS of the PRO-ABORTION FORCES

• 1974 the US congress voted UNANIMOUSLY to delay capital punishment of a pregnant woman until after delivery.

• 2000 the US House of Representatives UNANIMOUSLY passed a bill making it illegal to executive a pregnant woman.

• There are laws in most states that there are two counts of murder when a pregnant woman is murdered.

• It is illegal to kill a child once it is born prematurely, yet legal and culturally acceptable to kill a child of the same gestation if they remain in the womb.

CONTRADICTIONS cont.

• large penalty for destroying eagle’s egg; legal to kill unborn humans

• Most anti-war protestors support the right to kill unborn children.

• There are laws to send drug abusing pregnant mothers to jail to protect their unborn child.

• There are laws requiring that aborted babies be disposed in a humane fashion.

CONTRADICTIONS cont.

• Abortion clinic workers don’t want to see the body parts—there is a great difference between intellectual support of the right to choose and the reality of participation in abortion.

• Prochoice folks object to being called pro-abortion.  Could it be they sense there is something wrong with abortion?

WOMEN’S RIGHT’S GROUPS IGNORE THE HARM DONE TO THE MOTHER IN ABORTION

• Many women testify that it is much easier to scrape a baby from a mother’s uterus than to scrape him from her mind.

• He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear Him     Psalms 103

• He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy  Proverbs 28

• Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed James 5:16

• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness    1John 1:9

Personhood is logically defined by membership in the human

species.

ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE PERSONHOOD IN OTHER

WAYS

• age, stage of development, viability, size

• degree of skill, intelligence, education

• self-awareness, ability to relate to others

• ability to meaningfully contribute to society, to have a meaningful life

WHO CAN DECIDE WHETHER ANOTHER HUMAN’S LIFE IS

MEANINGFUL?

• MEANINGFUL TO WHOM?

• WANTED BY WHOM?

WHY A STATE PERSONHOOD CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVE?WHY A STATE PERSONHOOD

CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVE?

THE PRINCIPLE OF PERSONHOOD

• We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator by certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”     

Declaration of Independence     July 4, 1776• The basis for an individual’s human rights

should be their membership in the human race.• The right to live, the right to not be cut to pieces,

is a basic right of every person—no less for a child born or unborn than for an adult.

Every human being deserves equal protection under the law.

• Roe v Wade removed legal protection from an entire class of human beings--the unborn.

WHAT A PERSONHOOD INITIATIVE WILL DO

• Brings abortion tragedy to the people• Supports prolife legislation• Stepping stone to overturn Roe v Wade• Allows high powered legal council to take it to

the US Supreme Court• Encourages other states to follow suit• Affirms that Montana is a pro-life state that

recognizes the dignity and value of human life• Sends this message to our legislators• Pricks the collective conscience by

dramatizing injustice. Social reform has always been achieved this way

PERSONHOOD IS PIVOTAL TO OVERTURNING ROE V WADE

• The root of legalization of abortion is the denial of personhood. 

PERSONHOOD IS PIVOTAL

• In the Roe v. Wade decision, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that, “(If the) suggestion of personhood [of the pre-born}] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of the course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.”

• Thus, the personhood of the pre-born child is the single point of which the entire debate turns.

JUDICIAL and FEDERAL SUPREMACY are

UNCONSTITUTUIONAL

US Constitution: • limits the power of the federal

government over the states • grants balance among the executive,

judicial and legislative branches.

SUCCESSFUL NON-LEGISLATIVE PROLIFE

STRATEGIES

• Prayer, fasting, crisis pregnancy centers, peaceful protests, sidewalk counseling save lives.

• Thousands of unborn children are still destroyed each day by abortion.

Slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. stated

“Morality can’t be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” 

PROLIFE LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIES THAT HAVE

FAILED

• federal human life amendment,parental notification, provisions for fetal pain alleviation, regulation of abortion clinics

• voting for prolife candidates

THEY FAIL BECAUSE THEY DON’T ADDRESS PERSONHOOD

THAT LEAVES STATE PERSONHOOD AMENDMENTS

Personhood Amendments do not outlaw abortion but…

• They are a legal stepping stone• They are a direct challenge to the central

holding of Roe v Wade.• They challenge judicial and federal

supremacy.• There are no reasonable arguments

against it.

WHAT THE MONTANA PERSONHOOD

CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVE WILL STATE

• It will amend Montana Constitution’s Declaration of Rights, extending the right to life to all  persons, beginning at conception or fertilization.

LIES FROM THE OPPOSITION

& THE TRUTH.

LIES FROM THE OPPOSITION

& THE TRUTH.

The Lie:The Lie:

One signature can do a lot of One signature can do a lot of damage.damage.

The Truth:• Your signing the petition for a personhood

amendment does nothing more than give your support for it being on the ballot in the November election. If enough signatures are received, Montanan’s in November will have a choice to vote for or against a personhood amendment .

The Lie:The Lie:

The Personhood Amendment The Personhood Amendment Threatens Women's Health.Threatens Women's Health.

The Personhood Amendment The Personhood Amendment interferes in private medical interferes in private medical decisions. decisions.

The Truth:

• A constitutional initiative amends the constitution.

• It does NOTHING to threaten women’s health.

The Lie:The Lie:

The Personhood Amendment The Personhood Amendment will:will:

Bring investigations of stillbirths, Bring investigations of stillbirths, miscarriages, underweight babies.miscarriages, underweight babies.

Outlaw contraceptives.Outlaw contraceptives.

The Truth:

• For miscarriages etc. to be investigated, contraceptives to be outlawed, laws to bring this about would have to be enacted.

• These things were not done prior to Roe v Wade, why would they be done now?

The Lie:The Lie:

The Personhood Amendment will The Personhood Amendment will restrict birth control.restrict birth control.

Lie vs Intentional Deception• It is possible to purposefully deceive

without telling a lie. Could a Personhood Amendment be referred to in order to restrict birth control? Yes.  Is that likely? No. The Montana legislature would have to pass legislation to restrict birth control. Given their difficulty passing anything controversial, this is highly unlikely.

The Lie:The Lie:

It would make it illegal to access It would make it illegal to access safe and legal abortions, no safe and legal abortions, no exceptions.exceptions.

The Truth:

• Again, a constitutional initiative is not a bill or law so it cannot make anything illegal. It states nothing about abortion.

The Lie:The Lie:

Personhood amendments are a Personhood amendments are a flawed and misleading attempt flawed and misleading attempt to drastically change our to drastically change our constitution.constitution.

The Truth:

• The Personhood Amendment adds a line or two to our constitution. The language is so simple it cannot be misunderstood, misleading or flawed.

The Lie:The Lie:

It allows government intrusion in It allows government intrusion in our personal lives.our personal lives.

The Truth:

• This is a constitutional initiative, not a bill or a law. Therefore, it cannot possibly threaten anyone’s health or allow government intrusion. Its true effect is difficult to predict because it will have no effect until/unless legislation is passed that utilizes it.

NO PLACE FOR COMPLACENCYNO PLACE FOR COMPLACENCY

OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WOULD SAY

ABORTION PLACES OUR NATION IN GREAT PERIL

• “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?”    Thomas Jefferson (Engraved on Jefferson Memorial)

• “We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”     George Washington’s inaugural address 1789

IT’S UP TO US• “Our Constitution was made only for a

moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to government of any other.”    John Adam 1798

• But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. 

Ezekiel 33:6

• Deliver those being taken to death, and those stumbling to be killed, unless you hold back. If you say, Behold, we did not know; does not He who searches the heart consider it? And the Keeper of your soul, does He know? And He repays to a man according to his works.

Proverbs 24:11,12

• If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

II Chronicles 7:14

FIGHT AGAINST ALL ODDS AS WE SERVE OUR

MIGHTY GOD • “In the beginning of the Contest with Great

Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection—Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.  All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor.”   

Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention 1787

WHY BE PROLIFE?WHY SIGN THE PETITION?

• Abortion is the ultimate human rights issue• Each human is created for special purpose

• Abortion destroys

an image of God

• Human life is sacred

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”                   Martin Luther King Jr.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”        

Proverbs 31:8-9