Personhood legislation in the Virginia General Assembly 16FEB12

THIS personhood legislation passed by the Virginia House of Delegates is a disgrace. It is an obscene assault on a woman's choice concerning birth control and on women's health in general. The Virginia Senate must defeat this right-wing extremist attack on women and family planning, but unfortunately with a 20-20 split and a republican Lt Governor it will pass unless enough of us speak out and let our Senators in Richmond know we expect them to vote against it. Click the link to sign Tim Kaine's petition to the VA Senate, and then read my e mail to every Democratic Senator in Richmond suggesting an amendment to the bill.....

"Yes."
That was George Allen's one word answer when he was asked if he supports the personhood legislation that was passed by the Virginia House of Delegates this week and was championed by Delegate Bob Marshall, who is challenging Allen in the GOP primary.
Marshall's bill would grant "personhood" to a human embryo at the moment of conception -- which could ultimately make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy, under any circumstance, and outlaw contraception that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg.
Yesterday George Allen had the same answer -- "Yes" -- when he was asked if he would support federal personhood legislation. This is just another example of George wasting time on divisive issues instead of focusing on what Virginia, and the nation, need -- jobs, economic stability, and a focus on the future.
Tim Kaine supports affordable and accessible contraception for all women. Sign the petition tell our State Senators that you do too.

And just in case you think that this isn't a battle over contraception -- Republicans in the House of Delegates rejected an amendment, sponsored by Democrats, which would have ensured that all forms of contraception remain legal.
It doesn't matter if the GOP nominee is Allen or Marshall -- both are willing to place a premium on extreme legislation that could jeopardize access to contraception and women's health.
We don't need their style of politics in the Senate at a time when elected officials should be rolling up their sleeves and getting to work finding the right balance of budget cuts and investments in programs like early childhood education, workforce development, and infrastructure.
Sign the petition today. Tell the State Senate that you and Tim Kaine support affordable and accessible contraception for all women.
Mike Henry
Campaign Manager

My e mail to every Democratic Senator in Richmond
Is there a Senator in Richmond brave enough to offer an amendment to the "personhood" legislation like Oklahoma state Senator Constance Johnson did? I hope so......just to slam home to the public just how obscene this intrusion into the personal lives of women really is.
Thank you,
Craig Schwanke

Constance Johnson, a bold senator of Oklahoma, reached her breaking point concerning “Personhood” bills and attempted to amend the “Personhood” Bill SB 1433 by adding her own clause to the bill.  Her clause read:

However, any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman's vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child.

She stated, in an article she wrote for the U.K. Guardian, that she is increasing offended by these “Personhood” bills, which focus mainly on the women and female reproduction.  She and another senator in Oklahoma are increasingly frustrated by the ridiculousness of these bills and their focus on the woman’s part in reproduction.

With Oklahoma's new, never-before-experienced Republican majority, we are seeing enactment of more and more measures that adversely affect women and their rights to access safe medical procedures when making reproductive healthcare decisions.

The Personhood bill would potentially allow governmental intrusion into families' personal lives by policing what happens to a woman's eggs without any similar thought to what happens to a man's sperm.

With her addition to the amendment, she seeks to show the absurdity in these bills concerning women.  With this current bill proposed in Oklahoma’s senate, women face criminal charges if their pregnancy ends in a miscarriage and in her opinion, fertilization of eggs outside the womb could violate the proposed personhood statute, therefore they should include a clause concerning men and their sperm, but only to show how absurd the bill is.
She stated she also seeks to draw humourous attention the hypocrisy, inconsistency, and the intrusion of privacy of the Republican proposal.  Johnson feels it is more important that we focus on health care, jobs, and education, rather than reproduction solely on the woman’s part.
According to Jezebel website, this bill seeks to call fertilized eggs “persons” before they implant to the woman’s uterus.

The bill sought to define human life as beginning at the moment of conception, before it’s even implanted in the womb, and offers full legal protection to those tiny multicelled lumps. In the words of the bill, “the unborn child at every stage of development (has) all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state.”

Johnson’s clause, as Jezebel pointed out, would mean that male masturbation, and anywhere else a man can think to place his sperm, other than the vagina, would violate this amendment.