Florida Measure Would Define Unborn
Baby as a Person and Ban Abortions, by Micaiah Bilger 9/27/16 Tallahassee,
FL
A petition to outlaw abortions and
protect unborn babies from the moment of conception is circulating in Florida. A project of Abolish
Abortion Florida, the petition is calling for an
amendment to the state constitution to make an abortion a crime of capital
murder. Under the proposed language, anyone who performs or procures an
abortion would be charged with first-degree, premeditated murder.
Abolish Abortion Florida said its
goal is to collect enough signatures to have the amendment on the 2018 election
ballot. Its members also are urging Florida
legislators to consider a bill with similar language, according to the group.
If the ballot measure passes, the
state constitution would recognize that unborn babies have a right to life from
the moment of fertilization. This would ban abortions and certain kinds of
birth control drugs and devices that can work as abortifacients, as well as the
intentional destruction of unwanted human embryos created for in vitro
fertilization.
“The governing authorities of our
state possess the moral, legal, and constitutional duty to establish justice
for all human beings within their jurisdiction, including the pre-born fatherless
by prohibiting the slaughter of children in the womb,” the petition reads. “We
demand that our legislators stop passing laws to regulate abortion. We demand
the total and immediate abolition of human abortion.”
Similar measures have been proposed
in other states this year. In May, the
Missouri House approved a bill to
define an unborn baby as a person in its state constitution and ban abortions.
Proposals also were introduced in Alabama and Oklahoma recently.
While the intentions of these
measures are honorable, they are highly unlikely to become law. Because of the
current political climate and the precedents set in the U.S. Supreme Court case
Roe v. Wade, courts would almost
certainly strike down the measures. In 2012, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a similar
personhood bill as
unconstitutional.
Many pro-life groups believe that
one of the keys to ending legalized abortion is to overturn Roe v. Wade.
However, the current Supreme Court
justices are highly unlikely to do so,
especially after the unexpected
death of pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia.
Three of the justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and John Roberts, likely
would vote to overturn Roe and
return abortion laws back to the authority of the states; but five of the other
justices almost certainly would not. Scalia’s seat on the high court remains
empty.
To overturn Roe and make abortion illegal again, Americans need to elect a
pro-life president and U.S. Senators who will put pro-life judges on the high
court. This would pave the way for the reversal of Roe and a return to a country that protects every human life.
http://www.lifenews.com/2016/09/27/florida-measure-would-define-unborn-baby-as-a-person-and-ban-abortions/
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