Amendment 26: "Personhood Amendment"

What the Pope has to say:

(15) Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means.

(20) If therefore there are well-grounded reasons for spacing births, arising from the physical or psychological condition of husband or wife, or from external circumstances, the Church teaches that married people may then take advantage of the natural cycles immanent in the reproductive system and engage in marital intercourse only during those times that are infertile, thus controlling birth in a way which does not in the least offend the moral principles which We have just explained.

The first excerpt simply states that nothing unnatural should be used or administered that would interfere with a pregnancy; so birth control, plan b, condoms, or abortion would not be acceptable in his eyes.

The next excerpt goes on to explain that if a couple wishes to not have child after child after child, they can achieve this without the use of birth control methods. God has made special, natural times in a woman’s cycle that render her “infertile.” Didn’t know that there are days of infertility. What a nice guy. Someone should let me know when this magical time is.

These excerpts are most likely some of the ideals that led to the creation of Mississippi’s “Personhood” Amendment.



This amendment, if it would have been passed, would done the following:

The “Personhood Amendment” would have changed the legal definition of the word “person” in Article 111 of the state constitution to include “every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”

Amendment 26 would have effectively outlawed birth control.

Whereas many anti-abortion activists would permit exceptions to women who were victims of incest or rape, or in the case of a pregnancy endangering the life of the mother, the Personhood Amendment makes no room for such provisions. A woman is compelled to carry the child to term no matter the circumstances, even if her life is at risk.

Pregnancy, even in the case of rape, would have to be carried out to full term.

Amendment 26 could have illegalized clinically assisted fertility techniques like in vitro fertilization.

Amendment 26 would have denied essential health and reproductive options and services to all women living in the state of Mississippi, not only Mississippi residents.
A miscarriage could be grounds for criminal prosecution.

These provisions are concurrent with the Pope’s “laws”; the amendment strived to implement his notion of not taking action to prevent a pregnancy.



These thoughts and arguments are preposterous; they are a direct attack on women. They are waging war against over half of the United States population. Women’s health has always been behind men’s health… especially their reproductive health. There has been this historically and socially constructed view that the church has about women. Women are viewed as either holy and sacred, like the Virgin Mary, or evil and rebellious, like a witch.

In a patriarchal institution, such as the Church, the men in power have found ways to control women and their bodies. They use religion as a means to do this. And say that it’s okay, because it is what God wants.

Since the United States’ government is so entangled in religion (what the hell happened to separation of church and state), these religious ideas permeate society today in forms of laws. The Church’s delusional, controlling thoughts about women’s reproductive rights should not be a part of politics today. Women are being politicized and used as a tool to implement the Church’s ideological beliefs.

Amendment 26 strips women of their rights. It controls their bodies in a way that follows the rules of the Church. In order for women to be equal in this society, someone else cannot control their bodies. It sickens me that people thought that this amendment was acceptable.

Here are some stats in Mississippi:

“Mississippi finds itself in a dire situation when it comes to teen pregnancy and sexual health. According to Mississippi First, the teen birth rate is the highest in the nation, at 64.1 births for every 1,000 teenage (15- to 19-year-old) girls. Mississippi also leads the nation in teen infection rates for several sexually transmitted diseases. In a state where the lack of sex education has perpetuated the cycle of teen pregnancy, limiting women’s access to methods of contraception can only worsen the situation” (DM Online).

Women’s reproductive health is in a crisis; sex education, availability of contraceptives, and access to reproductive health measures are all at risk. These are things that should be easily accessible. The Church has a long history of not recognizing women as sexual beings. Women are to be “pure”. They are to be virgins before marriage. They should not desire, but only be desired. Their purpose in life is to reproduce and create a family.



I am appalled that all of these things are still alive in today’s society to a certain extent. Women are individuals that should be able to control their own bodies. They should also be able to protect and care for their own bodies without interference from the Church or government. The government should be helping women, not depriving them of basic reproductive healthcare. The consequences of amendments like the “Personhood Amendment” are dire. They undermine and trivialize women’s health and well-being just for the sake of doing “Gods work”. If there is a God, and he’s so loving like everyone says he is, I think he would be immensely disappointed in our society today.