Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Top 10 Personhood Accomplishments Of 2014

 




Top 10 Personhood Accomplishments Of 2014

 


Check out the biggest moments for the Personhood movement of the past year!

As this year draws to an end, we’re reflecting on everything that our movement has accomplished in the past 12 months. Personhood has experienced massive growth and attracted worldwide attention in the last year. Walk down memory lane with us as we count down the Top 10 Personhood Moments in 2014:


10. Defeated Colorado’s Radical Abortion Expansion Bill

Defeated Colorado’s Radical Abortion Expansion Bill

Personhood USA helped defeat what would have been the most extreme pro-abortion law in the country (S.B. 175), enshrining a “fundamental right” to abortion more broad than Roe v. Wade within the Colorado constitution.

Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado released an email after the defeat, blaming personhood supporters for the bill’s failure. Democratic lawmakers began to waver under the intense pressure of local personhood activists after more than 5,000 signatures against the bill were gathered in just a few hours and delivered to legislators. Hundreds rallied on the steps of the Capitol building in Denver to oppose the bill.


9. A Voice For Brady Featured on CBS, NBC, and Huckabee


Personhood USA’s A Voice For Brady campaign for Amendment 67 in Colorado gathered significant media attention. Heather Surovik, Brady’s mom, was featured on CBS’s The Doctors, FOX’s Huckabee Show, and in an NBC spotlight feature.

Millions of viewers and readers were confronted with Heather’s story. They had to come to terms with the fact that 8lb. 2oz. Brady was a person and that his life mattered. If Brady was a person just days before he would have been born, what about a week before? Or a month before that? Or 3 months before that?

Ultimately, Brady’s story changed hearts and minds in favor of recognizing the rights and dignity of unborn children, so that others like him can be protected.


8. New Hampshire GOP Adopts Personhood Platform


The Republican Party of New Hampshire introduced new Personhood language into its official platform, promising to “support pre-born child’s fundamental right to life and personhood under the Fourteenth Amendment, and implement all Constitutional and legal protections.”

This proposal signifies a big step for the New Hampshire GOP platform because it brings the platform into conformity with the national Republican platform, President Ronald Reagan’s Personhood Proclamation, and the ultimate goal of the pro-life movement: the rights of Personhood for all human beings.


7. Increased the Conversation About Abortion in America



More people are talking about Personhood for the unborn than ever before. Over the past year, there were 19,937 articles written about Personhood. In the month before the 2014 election alone, there were over 6,177 articles talking about Personhood!

As MSNBC observed, “In only six years, the Personhood movement has utterly changed the contours of the debate over reproductive rights [abortion].”


6. Meriam Ibrahim Saved From Execution

Meriam Ibrahim was released from jail and her death sentence was revoked after Personhood activists sent 311,022 letters to Sudanese officials, calling for Meriam’s pardon and release. Meriam was sentenced to death by hanging while pregnant with her unborn daughter for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. She was later forced to give birth with her legs shackled in prison.

Under immense pressure from international organizations like Personhood USA, the Sudanese government finally capitulated to the overwhelming outcry of human rights activists from around the globe. An appeals court agreed to pardon Meriam and release her immediately. She was reunited with her husband and escaped to Italy, where she met Pope Francis, before finally reaching the United States.

This was a triumph for Personhood, since every human being deserves to have his or her God-given fundamental rights protected at all life stages. Your involvement made Meriam’s freedom possible!


5. Alabama Supreme Court Doubles Down on Personhood


Last year, we celebrated Alabama’s landmark court ruling which recognized unborn children as persons.

This year, the Alabama Supreme Court doubled down on their previous pro-personhood ruling by reaffirming the state’s protections against chemical endangerment “for all persons–born and unborn.” This decision marks a major victory for the pro-life cause around the country, as the legal framework of abortion begins to crumble.

Chief Justice Roy Moore’s concurring opinion was especially dazzling, written especially ”to emphasize that the inalienable right to life is a gift of God that civil government must secure for all persons–born and unborn.”

“Under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Moore wrote, “states have an obligation to provide to unborn children at any stage of their development the same legal protection from injury and death they provide to persons already born.”


4. South Carolina Affirms Personhood Resolution


Voters made a historic decision in South Carolina this year as 79% of Republicans called for a personhood amendment to the state constitution that would guarantee equal protection under the law to preborn children, from the moment of conception.

The landslide majority, gathering nearly a quarter of a million affirmative votes, is the largest show of support by percentage in any public vote held on personhood.

If any 2016 Republican Presidential candidate expects to do well in the crucial South Carolina primary, that candidate cannot forget that 79% of the base believes preborn children deserve full Personhood protections. These are the statistics candidates cannot ignore!


3. Freedom for Justina Pelletier


Fifteen-year-old Justina Pelletier, who suffers from mitochondrial disease, was seized from her family in February 2013 by Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts DCF over a disagreement in medical diagnosis. For one year, she was subjected to neglect and abuse by the state.

Because Personhood USA seeks to ensure recognition of the dignity and rights of every human individual, we viewed Justina Pelletier’s plight as a clear case where human dignity was being undermined. Massachusetts DCF and the Boston Children’s Hospital treated Justina as property rather than respecting her personhood. She was considered property of the state, not a person with full dignity and rights under the law.

After a year of inaction, Personhood USA was able to step in and within 114 days, radically change the Pelletiers’ circumstances and bring Justina home. YOU were a key part of that accomplishment, through calling the Massachusetts DCF and Judge Johnston’s office and signing the petition to state lawmakers to free Justina! The Free Justina campaign reached 611 million people and was featured on Dr. Phil, Huckabee, and Megyn Kelly.

On June 18, Justina Pelletier returned home to the loving arms of her family!


2. Highest Number Of Votes For Personhood Ever


Despite Planned Parenthood’s $15-20 million investment to defeat personhood and pro-personhood candidates, the personhood movement made significant gains with Colorado’s Amendment 67 and in tight battleground Senate races. In fact, more than 650,000 voters supported Personhood, which represents an electoral gain of 10% since 2008, when the first personhood amendment was proposed in the state of Colorado.

In 2010, the personhood amendment reached 30% support, which was about a 3% gain over the level of support from 2008. This year, Amendment 67 doubled that percentage increase with a 6% electoral gain over 2010. The raw increase in votes for personhood in Colorado indicates that Planned Parenthood’s lies are losing their effect and that people’s minds have been changed on the issue of abortion because of Personhood’s presence on the ballot!


1. Changed the Abortion Conversation in the 2014 Midterms


In every major Senate race during the 2014 midterm elections, Personhood was a key dividing issue between the candidates. Rather than discussing various abortion regulations or discussing other tertiary issues, candidates were forced to either defend or deny the intrinsic dignity of every human person, whether born or unborn.

Notably, the victor of Iowa’s Senate campaign, Joni Ernst, stood by her sponsorship of a local personhood amendment that would recognize and protect “the inalienable right to life of every person at any stage of development.” Ernst’s victory sends a clear message to potential Republican presidential candidates who want to win the Iowa caucuses. While some other candidates narrowly eked by after turning their backs on their pro-life constituencies, Ernst’s unapologetic strategy reaped major dividends.

This is just one example of how Personhood’s active presence as the largest grassroots pro-life organization has transformed the way we talk about abortion in America.


Looking ahead to 2015…


The New York Times says “the front lines of the anti-abortion movement belong to the ‘personhood’ people, who strive to give constitutional rights and protections to the ‘preborn’ from the moment of conception.”

We intend to continue to be the tip-of-the-spear in the movement toward human dignity for all. We’ve accomplished great growth in 2014 and we expect 2015 to be an even bigger year for the Personhood movement. Please join with us as we build a culture of life that protects every human being. We can’t wait to stand with you in defense of human life!
 
 
For Life,


Keith Mason
Founder and President
Personhood USA

P.S. Would you like to join us as we fight for human dignity in 2015? Make your end-of-the-year gift to Personhood right now!
 


 
  
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