Consequences Of ‘Personhood’ Bills Would Go Far Beyond Abortion
Margaret Hartmann:
Recently there have been efforts in several states to legally extend rights to any egg that happens to get fertilized. While this is mainly intended to end abortion, passing “personhood” legislation would be severely harmful for women in more ways than one.
Colorado has defeated personhood amendments twice in the past few years, and similar legislation may be voted on soon in Alabama and Mississippi. The group Personhood USA is hoping to raise that count to nearly half of all states by 2012.
Today NPR talked with members of the group and considered the implications of such legislation. Keith Mason, Personhood USA’s president, said, “We know, without a shadow of a doubt, when human life begins. But our laws have not caught up to what we know.”
Apparently by “we” Mason is referring only to people who share his beliefs, because every medical professional interviewed by NPR says this is absolutely not the case. Dan Grossman, an OB/GYN at UC San Francisco, explains, “The medical community has really been quite clear about when pregnancy begins, and that definition is that pregnancy begins once implantation occurs.” That’s partially because the hormones found in urine only kick in after implantation, so that’s when doctors can detect a pregnancy. Another consideration is that about half of all zygotes don’t make it, even without intervention from selfish and slutty abortion fiends.
See also: Amanda Marcotte comments at Slate:
“Personhood bills intend to enshrine into law what I call the male-centric view of baby-making, the belief that a man creates a baby by ejaculating and that a woman’s contribution of nine months of pregnancy and childbirth are just a delivery system for the man’s efforts. They do this by declaring that fertilization is what makes something a “person,” even though fertilization occurs before pregnancy begins and an estimated half of fertilized eggs never even attach to the uterine wall. You could be the mother of dozens and not even know it, ladies “