Context of Amendment 26

Heated controversy about the context of Amendment 26 or "Personhood Amendment" surrounded the busy polls and media stations in the state of Mississippi. Then,it spread to the national media, since this had such massive consequences if it got passed or rejected.

Amendment 26 would have reconstructed the legal context of the word “person” or "persons" in Article 111 of Mississippi's constitution to include “every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” Cristen Hemmins,one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the amendment said, "It affects every single time the word person is used in Mississippi codes.It is used over 9,000 times." Certain Doctors and citizens were afraid that it could have banned certain types of birth control, in vitro fertilization, and stem cell research. It also would have made abortions illegal even pregnancies that occured as a result of incest or rape.

One night changed everything when Cristen Hemmins was at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. In a campus parking lot, two male teenagers intimidated her with a gun, raped her, and shot her twice. One of the bullets pierced at her uterus. She escaped to a gas station for safety after the tragic crime.She proclaimed, " If this initiative had been in place 20 years ago, I would have had no option. I would have had been forced by the state government to bear a child which might have killed me physically if not emotionally because I had been shot twice. I also had a a bunch of physical problems, but Phil Bryant tells me to my face yesterday that the child had a right to live just as much as I do even if it was just a fertilized egg or microscopic dividing cell."

Voting for governor and the initiative were on the ballot at the same time so that added to the heated situation in the predominately conservative state. Mr. Rosenblatt, a Political Science professor, and retired Mississippi politician stated," There have been other situations in other states challenging Roe V. Wade, but I didn't think it was as big of a deal as it turned out to be. Amendment 26 was part of the Republican agenda, but then it was rejected this election cycle. I can see how the media would make it a Republican and Democrat issue, but the media doesn't seem to resonate that both of the candidates for governor were against it." Some experts said that the public figures did not want to address the issue because it might have hurt the outcome of the election.

Mississippi is known for being one of the most conservative states, and that is one reason why the Colorado based group called Personhood chose Mississippi.The group thought if it passed it could make a dramatic change in the way the United States sees this issue.The Mississippians were so actively for or against this initiative that it enticed the national media to see what Mississippi was going to do next.