In 6 days, Mississippians will head to the polls to vote on, quite frankly, a horrifying initiative.
Proposition 26 seeks to redefine "personhood", thus creating many ambiguous interpretations of the laws regarding reproductive health in the state. Not only does i26 attempt to outlaw abortion (quelle surprise, as Porter would say), but also to ban birth control (no matter what these loonies might fallaciously claim).
In my ever so humble opinion, I can understand their goal of making abortion illegal. After all, conservatives have been fighting this battle for decades now, and no matter the practical repercussions, argue their religious beliefs before the law. However, I cannot respect nor accept Personhood USA coming in and completely confusing the voters by creating an incredibly poorly written intiative. The repercussions on the everyday lives of Mississippians, should this unfortunate proposal pass, would be devastating. Our state already suffers from high teen pregnancy rates and a lagging educational system; must we make this worse by banning contraception and the right to safe sex, in of all places, a state that needs it worse than any other?
It makes no sense to me. All that comes to mind is very ugly words, when I think about the supporters of this nonsensical proposal. They clearly haven't thought out what the consequences of its passage might be--and, even more terrifying, is that they seemingly could care less. Perhaps scarier yet is the wide range of support the proposition is receiving. Both gubernatorial candidates applaud the intiative, and I know a sad few (I thought) intelligent adults who either haven't bothered to research the measure, or only see it as "anti-abortion."
Now I know...most of my blog readers (all three of you, right?) feel the same way about this, and probably already knew how I felt as well. But still...we must speak out. Someone will be listening, and this is a crucial time for our state to influence others to make the smart, and right, decision.
LHC
