by Latoya Veal, NOW Press Secretary Mississippi’s Initiative 26 — the so-called “Personhood Amendment” — hits close to home for me. I was born in Mississippi and attended school there until I graduated from college. My immediate family and many, many friends still reside in the state. In just a few short days, my loved [...]
by Lauren Levine, Jewish Women International Executive Associate On November 8, Mississippi voters will be asked the question, “Should the term “person” be defined to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the equivalent thereof?” The proposed constitutional amendment, known as Initiative 26 or the “Personhood Amendment” is the pro-life movement’s [...]
By Loretta Ross, Founder and National Coordinator of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective The 2011 Mississippi ballot Initiative 26 on Personhood and Initiative 27 on Voter ID exclusions may be one of the most important opportunities on the ground for the Pro-Choice and Reproductive Justice Movements to work together. In Mississippi, we are [...]
By Lauren Kalina, Advocates for Youth Intern On November 8, the state of Mississippi will vote on ballot initiative 26, which will attempt to change the Mississippi constitution to define human life as beginning at conception. The actual text of the initiative is as follows: Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III [...]
The people of Mississippi will vote on typical election issues this year such as who will be their next governor and attorney general, but something besides candidates’ names will appear on the ballot. Two important ballot initiatives will be decided and both have the potential to roll back important rights. The first, Initiative 26, would [...]
On Saturday, October 15, hundreds of people gathered in Richmond, Virginia, to protest the passage of Virginia’s TRAP Laws by the Virginia Board of Health. The protest, which was held in Monroe Park, near Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), brought together the combined forces of progressive students and esteemed women’s activists to form a rallying cry [...]
On Wednesday September 28, hundreds of pro-choice supporters gathered for the “We’ve Had Enough” rally in the Rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, PA to protest SB 732 or the Health Care Facilities Act, which is a Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) law. SB 732 would make abortion care inaccessible to millions [...]
Organizing around an issue and being a part of a political process is all very exciting, until you see those systems fail you and your peers. Yesterday, the Virginia Board of Health met to decide on regulations that the Governor proposed for first trimester abortion clinics. These regulations put clinics that provide first trimester abortion [...]
Wednesday at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), about 200 students, faculty, community members, politicians and activists gathered for an electrifying speak out against the Virginia TRAP laws. The Speak Out Against Virginia’s TRAP Laws blog describes the TRAP laws as “a bill that classifies women’s health centers in the state as a category of hospitals, [...]
In Virginia, abortion clinics might begin closing at an alarming rate due to legislation requiring they be regulated like hospitals. In March, Governor McDonnell signed SB 924, a bill that classifies women’s health centers in the state as a category of hospitals, making them subject to new regulations created by the Department of Health. These [...]
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