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Personhood Defined

Teen Youtube Sensation Lia Mills Proves Personhood of Unborn in New Video
Patrick B. Craine (October 29, 2010)

“When will someone else decide that you’re not a person?”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Apostle Paul told his young protégé, Timothy, to “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the Believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Seemingly walking out that exhortation is Lia Mills, a teen orator and a champion for the culture of life, with an amazing gift of communication. Her compelling argument on the personhood of the unborn is presented in her latest video, which can be viewed by clicking on the link toward the end of this article. I highly recommend it. –Aimee Herd, BCN.

(Toronto, Ontario)—After proving the humanity of the unborn in an August video, teen pro-life orator Lia Mills has released a new video aiming to prove that the unborn are also “persons” by virtue of being human, as are other classes of humans who have been denied the status of ‘person’ in the past.

The video, released Tuesday, comes out as Lia [addresses] the International Pro-Life Conference in Ottawa, taking place now through Saturday. She will be joined by a star-studded cast of major leaders from the international pro-life movement, including North American pro-life pioneer Dr. Jack Willke.

“The unborn are definitely human. It’s obvious and it’s supported by science,” says Lia in her new video. She points out, however, that people now generally accept the unborn’s humanity and argue instead that they can be killed because they are not yet ‘persons’.

“How can we tell when exactly the unborn gain their personhood?” she asks.

To help, she goes to a dictionary, which defined person as “a human being.” “Since the unborn are humans, that means based on this definition the unborn are persons as well,” she says. But she then concedes that the issue is more complicated, because the definition of person changes depending on the academic discipline. In law, she points out, “a person is whoever the governing authorities decide to give rights to. Under the law, you’re only a person if the lawmakers say you are.”

Lia then discusses four examples in history when lawmakers denied personhood to a certain class of people—Jews in the Holocaust, black slaves in the US, North American natives, and women.

“The Jewish people were stripped of their personhood and thereby stripped of their rights and their value, and that’s why all of the atrocities committed against them were considered acceptable,” she explains.

“People are quick to judge the Germans at the Holocaust, but we have our own Holocaust that’s taking the lives of millions of unborn babies every year,” says Lia. “We do it using the same tactics that the Germans did. We deny personhood to the unborn and thereby deny them their rights and justify our own actions.”

“Who decided that the Jews weren’t persons, that the natives and slaves weren’t persons, and that women weren’t persons?” she asks. “Lawmakers.”

“Who decides today that the unborn aren’t persons? Lawmakers.”

“Personhood has become a fabricated term used by lawmakers to decide who has rights and who doesn’t,” she continues. “Personhood is denied to [the unborn] because they’re dependent, because they look different, and because they can’t do what older babies, children, and adults can do.”

“Should those in power be allowed to decide which humans are ‘persons’ and which are not, who gets rights and who doesn’t?” she asks in conclusion. “Once you allow one group of humans to lose their personhood, every other group’s personhood becomes vulnerable and no one is safe.

“When will someone else decide that you’re not a person?”

The International Pro-Life Conference will be the first of its kind to take place in Ottawa in 20 years. Lia will be speaking at the conference Friday with Rebecca Richmond of the National Campus Life Network on youth in the pro-life movement.

Watch the video HERE.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com

Victory for Personhood Mississippi!
Les Riley (October 29, 2010)

“Isaiah 59 tells us that ‘the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear,’ so we first give all praise and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ for hearing our prayers and giving us the victory in this round.”

Sponsors of the Mississippi Personhood Amendment, Initiative Measure Number 26, have been notified that the motion to remove the amendment from the Ballot, filed by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, has been denied.

ACLU and Planned Parenthood attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Secretary of State in July, seeking to disallow Mississippi voters from voting on the Mississippi Personhood Amendment.

Amendment sponsors and volunteers exceeded state signature requirements on February 17, becoming only the fourth successful ballot initiative since 1992. The amendment, Initiative Measure Number 26, reads, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”

The ACLU then filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that the Personhood Amendment which seeks to define the term “human being,” modifies the Bill of Rights, which is expressly prohibited by Section 273(5). Steve Crampton, Liberty Counsel attorney for Personhood Mississippi, explained that Section 273(5) does not prohibit the definition of an otherwise undefined term, such as “person.”

Crampton went on to explain that the Personhood Amendment complies with section 273(5)(a) because it does not propose any new right and does not modify or repeal any existing right guaranteed under our bill of rights. Instead, the Personhood Amendment merely defines the term “person,” and does not modify the Bill of Rights in any way.

The Court decision read “Initiative Measure No. 26 has received more than the required amount of signatures to be placed on the ballot and the Constitution recognizes the right of citizens to amend their Constitution.”

“Isaiah 59 tells us that ‘the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear’ so we first give all praise and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ for hearing our prayers and giving us the victory in this round,” explained Les Riley, amendment sponsor. “We have been certain that we have the right to define the term ‘person,’ and that right was affirmed by the Circuit Court and Judge Harrison. The people of Mississippi have spoken—they want to vote to recognize those Personhood rights in November 2011.”

“It is time for Mississippi voters to recognize that all human beings are people, and every person should be protected by love and by law,” added Cal Zastrow, co-founder of Personhood USA.

Source: Personhood USA, Christian Newswire

Both of these stories came from Breaking Christian News from Oct. 29, 2010.

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