Religion & American Law

Personhood USA: Encouraging Establishment of Religion

The state of Mississippi has introduced a bill redefining the word ‘person’ to include “every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof”. This would not only make abortions illegal, but would also bring into question the ability to get in vitro fertilization and many types of birth control. Although on the outside, it looks blatantly unconstitutional, Personhood USA (the group heading up these campaigns) has gained enough momentum and signatures to put this issue on the ballot. If such measures were passed, it would be a clear violation of the establishment clause, both aiding one religion, while very clearly hindering others. Many devout Catholics believe that abortion, as well as many forms of birth control. are sins and should be illegal. The very group that is spreading this movement, Personhood USA, is a Christian group promoting a pro-life world where abortion is illegal. However, our law states that it is not only illegal to ban abortions, but it is illegal to establish any one religion.

It should be noted that these types of movements are not only in Mississippi, but in all 50 states, as shown on their website. Mississippi however, is only the second state to have received enough signatures to put the issue on a ballot. The first was Colorado, in which the bill was quickly shot down.

The matter at hand is one of establishment. By passing such a bill, the country would be establishing the belief of some Christians about when life begins. Les Riley, the leader of the Mississippi movement, stated, “We think that God has already told us when life begins... and the court has just not dealt with it”. This is a clear example that the groups goal is to further a particular religious belief. There is no secular purpose at all and it would create extreme entanglement between law and religion. It would also very blatantly aid one religion over another, thus failing every step of the Lemon test. The Supreme Court has already ruled against the banning of abortions in Roe v. Wade, and it would be unconstitutional to reverse such a decision.

While the movement is gaining momentum, it seems very unlikely that any state would ever pass such a law. While the vote was quite close in Mississippi, it ended up not passing. If it had, it would have most likely forced the Supreme Court to get involved and take away something that so clearly violates the first amendment. Members of the ACLU have already filed two lawsuits against the personhood movements across the country, defeating efforts to ban abortions, as well as IVF and stem cell research.

This movement is obviously one that goes directly against the establishment clause. This type of law would not only encourage one religion over another, but would put those in potential harms way if they do not hold the same beliefs (such as black market abortions/IVF, etc). I believe that if any law of this type were to pass anywhere in the country, it would be a clear violation of the first amendment and must be taken away immediately. Although Personhood USA is gaining impressive amounts of signatures, it will never be enough to overthrow one of the most important aspects of our consitution.

About : Raja CRN

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