Personhood Non Grata

As I've said before, Mississippi voters will be taking on the most restrictive anti-abortion measure in the country in just a manner of weeks.  If the "personhood amendment" to the state constitution ballot issue passes, not only will it outlaw abortion in the state, but it will outlaw forms of contraception as well.  MoJo's Tim Murphy reports the man responsible for the measure is Les Riley:

But for all the momentum it has gained, the amendment is in large part the handiwork of one lesser known figure, an activist named Les Riley. A tractor salesman, former candidate for agriculture commissioner, and chair of the state Constitution Party, Riley is steeped in fringe politics. He founded the group Personhood Mississippi, drafted the amendment's language, started the signature drive that got it on the ballot, and promoted it statewide this spring with an inflammatory campaign called the "Conceived in Rape Tour."

The idea behind the amendment is simple: If by law life begins at fertilization, then abortion (and human cloning) would become legally impossible. In an interview with the AFA this summer, Riley asserted that his amendment would have "international implications" and could become "the biggest news in the pro-life movement in 20 years." If all goes as planned, it will launch a court challenge that will end with Roe v. Wade itself being overturned.

And that's just the beginning of Riley's plan to reshape America.

As radical and grandiose as that may sound, it fits with fringe views from Riley's past. A neo-secessionist, Riley once supported an effort to form an independent theocratic republic in South Carolina, and he belonged to an organization—the League of the South—dedicated to forming a "free Southern Republic" built on biblical law.

Go figure, the guy that wants to save America hates it enough to want to leave it.   Here's the best part of this "smaller, less intrusive, less regulatory government" pioneer's plan:

Moreover, because the language of the amendment is so broad, it could force state agencies to revisit and revise any regulation that includes the word "person," according to Jordan Goldberg, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. It would impact regulations on "the number of people who could ride a bus and the number of people who would be permitted to ride in a car," she says, or any statute that involves the collection of census data, such as redistricting. "It sounds absurd, but frankly so is this proposal," she says.

And yet as absurd as it is, the law is expected to pass.  If it doesn't, it will simply be proposed next year in a number of other states (and will probably be done so anyway.)   Less regs for food safety, more regs for your uterus.  Vote GOP.