Personhood: A Call to Arms
By Daniel Becker, Vice-President, Georgia Right to Life
“Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;”~ James Lowell
Last week I was on the phone with one of the leaders of Planned Parenthood of Georgia challenging them to meet us in the pitched battle of our day. In essence I said, “Don’t you think it is time to let Georgians decide this great matter?” I was referring to House Resolution 536 (H.R. 536) introduced by Rep. Martin Scott of Walker County. Rep. Scott and the bi-partisan group of men and women who joined him as co-sponsors, made legislative history by introducing the nation’s first Paramount Right to Life Amendment to a state constitution. Using language provided by the Thomas More Law Center, an advocacy group for pro-life causes, H.R. 536 states,
“Paramount right to life. (a) The rights of every person shall be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life. The right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person.
(b) With respect to the fundamental and inalienable rights of all persons guaranteed in this Constitution, the word 'person' applies to all human beings, irrespective of age, race, sex, health, function, or condition of dependency, including unborn children at every state of their biological development, including fertilization.”With the successful passage of this Resolution, Georgia will become the central battleground of this nation’s struggle against a culture that devalues human dignity and human worth at all levels of existence. When enacted, this single Amendment would stop abortion, euthanasia, destructive embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and other life-destroying practices that are currently being debated in the public forum. When approved by the citizens of Georgia, this amendment would make Georgia the nation’s first “pro-life state” and as a direct consequence, challenge the very foundation of the ruling of Roe vs. Wade.
In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that,
“(If the) suggestion of personhood [of the preborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.”
Thus, the personhood of the preborn child is the single point on which the entire debate turns. “Personhood” under the 14th Amendment is paramount to a “woman’s right to privacy.” Without the paramount right to life all other rights are moot. One may ask, “But hasn’t the Supreme Court already ruled against the “personhood of a fetus?” The answer is “Yes” under our Federal Constitution, but NOT under a State’s Constitution. Since Roe, the U.S. Supreme Court has found, “the authority of States to exercise…its sovereign right to adopt in its own Constitution individual liberties more expansive than those conferred by the Federal Constitution.” 447 U.S., 74,81 (1980) This means that the voters of Georgia could declare that the fetus is a “person” and entitled to full protection of the law under the Constitution of our State.
To wage a successful battle we need troops and resources. Are you willing to volunteer for service in this great struggle of our day? Our first objective must be to convince legislators that it is time for the citizens of Georgia to be the ones to decide this issue. Will you organize your church members to call your local representatives and urge them to adopt H.R.536? Because it is a Constitutional Amendment, it will need 2/3 votes in both of the Senate and the House to be placed on the 2008 ballot. We must then act to secure its passage. This will require millions of dollars in media buys for educating and changing the hearts and minds of our fellow Georgians. Please prepare now to give generously toward this effort.
The battles of Yorktown, Gettysburg, Midway: In every war, there comes a turning point, or a series of turning points, that determine the eventual outcome of the war. The battle in Georgia has already begun! This is your “Call to Arms!” Please volunteer for service that we may see the evils of abortion, infanticide and euthanasia ended in our State.
