This is your quarterly reminder that no: eggs, sperm, fertilized eggs, blastocysts, and/or embryos are not people. I know it seems like such a no-brainer at this point. I mean, I’ve only written about this twelve times since 2011.
I get it, you don’t have time to read. That’s cool. Lemme boil this down for ya in 59 seconds:
Look familiar? It should. This is a brand new version of my previous Personhood Visual Guide video. This one is no longer focused just on Mississippi’s failed Initiative 26 from 2011, and thanks to public domain and Creative Commons-licensed images from Wikimedia Commons, it’s a bit more legit for distribution than my last video.
What’s most disturbing is that I’ve now had to craft an “evergreen” version of this video because that’s how frequently personhood legislation crops up.
Case in point: states like Colorado and North Dakota are at it again, this time taking personhood right to the voters on Tuesday, November 4th.
What’s at Stake in Colorado
Colorado personhood advocates seem to believe that the third time’s the charm when it comes to personhood legislation after failed efforts in 2008 and 2010. Here’s the exact text of Colorado Amendment 67 that voters will be asked to answer on November 4th:
“Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution protecting pregnant women and unborn children by defining “person” and “child” in the Colorado criminal code and the Colorado wrongful death act to include unborn human beings?”
The obvious answer is “No.” Y’all need to vote no on 67 in Colorado.
If this ballot initiative is passed, here’s the short list of what’s in jeopardy for every single person in Colorado: in vitro fertilization, contraceptive care, and abortions.
…Well, technically speaking, these things are in jeopardy for every Colorado resident with two X chromosomes, but who’s counting?
Oh – and if you happen to have a miscarriage in which 20% of all pregnancies end – thanks to your shiny new amended state constitution, you could be liable for murder charges! Or at the very least, a criminal investigation into what happened in your uterus.
If Amendment 67 gets passed, you can kiss your fertility clinics, your Planned Parenthoods, your access to birth control and your reproductive freedom goodbye.
What’s at Stake in North Dakota
North Dakota personhood advocates have upped the ante by not only affecting embryos and blastocysts, but the terminally ill. Here’s what’s on the ballot in North Dakota Measure 1:
“The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.”
Why worry about legally and medically vague terms like “unborn human beings” when you can simply put the entire human developmental lifespan into your state constitution? “At any stage of development,” while aimed squarely at embryos, fetuses, and a woman’s right to reproductive choice, has unintentionally put the quality of care for the terminally ill in its crosshairs, as evidenced by the broad-sweeping “recognized and protected” section of the amendment.
Forget IVF or abortions. Have a living will or a DNR (do not resuscitate) order in place? Too fucking bad, North Dakota! Your legislature gets to step in and “protect” you by forcing court-ordered decisions about your medical treatment instead of you, your legally appointed medical guardian, and physician making that decision.
Oh, are you having an ectopic pregnancy right now? So sorry, you’ll have to sacrifice your life for your essentially malignant embryo that’s ripping through your fallopian tube and causing massive internal bleeding. Them’s the brakes with Measure 1!
The obvious answer is “No.” Y’all need to vote no on Measure 1 in North Dakota.
5 Reasons Why You Need to Care About Personhood Efforts
I’m genuinely tired of writing about this. So I’m straight up copying and pasting my reasons compiled from other personhood posts I’ve written:
- Infertility and reproductive choice are inextricably linked to one another. Read more.
- Personhood legislation doesn’t promote family values, it prevents families. Read more.
- Personhood legislation doesn’t save all the unborn children, it prevents them from ever being conceived in the first place. Read more.
- There are those who believe on very political grounds that we don’t actually have the right to build our own families, even though they support “choosing life.” Read more.
- Our access to receive proper and safe infertility treatments: IVF, IUI, ICSI, GIFT and a whole host of other clever acronyms – are at stake. Read more.
What You Need to Do
There’s lots of work that needs to be done. Choose something – anything! – from the list below according to your abilities.
- If you live in Colorado or North Dakota, VOTE NO on 67 (Colorado) and Measure 1 (North Dakota) on Tuesday, November 4th.
- Share this post via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
- Share my Personhood Visual Tutorial Video via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+
- Join in the fight on social media with RESOLVE’s #No2Personhood campaign. Their site is chock full of tweets and posts you can share right now.
- Put your money where your mouth is. Donate to RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association because they are the ones fighting legislatively for the infertility community around the country, for both patients and practitioners.
- Blog about this. Spread the word to others about why this matters to you, about how this kind of legislation impacts your ability to build your families to which you are entitled.
As I’ve said before: don’t just sit here and be horrified. Do something. Fight like the family you so desperately want and are entitled to have depends on it.
