California ‘personhood’ amendment designed to ban abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal anomaly
On Wednesday, the Union City, Calif.-based anti-abortion-rights group California Civil Rights Foundation (CCRF) announced it is submitting language to state
Jul 31, 202064.6K Shares1.5M Views
On Wednesday, the Union City, Calif.-based anti-abortion-rights group California Civil Rights Foundation(CCRF) announcedit is submitting language to state Attorney General Kamala Harris for the “California Human Rights Amendment,” marking the latest push for a “personhood” amendment in the U.S.
The amendment is part of an ongoing campaignto amend California’s constitution to grant equal civil rights to fetuses, effectively criminalizing abortion. Due the language, the amendment would explicitly ban abortions even in the case of rape, incest or fetal anomaly.
The language submitted to the attorney general reads:
“„The California Human Rights Amendment recognizes the inherent human rights, dignity and worth of all human beings from the beginning of their biological development as human organisms – regardless of the means by which they were procreated, method of reproduction, age, race, sex, gender, physical well-being, function, or condition of physical or mental dependency and/or disability.
“Human personhood is the final chapter of the Civil Rights movement,” said CCRF founder and President Walter B. Hoye II in a statement. ”It proposes commonsense values for otherwise convoluted jurisprudence. From the pre-born child, to the senior citizen facing end of life decisions, to the disabled veteran, we believe all human beings should be protected by love and by law. This is the end game. Personhood is what the Pro-Life movement looks like victorious.”
Other groups sponsoring CCRF’s personhood efforts are Lila Rose, who has led the movement to abolish Planned Parenthood through her organization Live Action; Bishop Ron Allen, president of the International Faith Based Coalition; Samuel Rodriguez, Jr., president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and Jason Jones, president of the Human Rights Education and Relief Organization, who also runs an organization called Bella Hero, which distributes “Bella” DVDs to crisis pregnancy centers, mostly to those run by Care-Net and Heartbeat International.
On CCRF’s website, the origins of the group are explained by the birth of one of Hoye’s children: “God used the premature birth (six months, 2.1 pounds) of his sonto teach him that the fetus is a person, a living, breathing human being.”
The personhood movementhas gained traction throughout the country this year with personhood-amendment petitionsactive in every state. Mississippians will voteon whether or not to add a personhood amendment to their state constitution next year.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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