Mississippi House Passes “Heartbeat” Personhood Bill

NEW ALBANY, Miss., March 15, 2012 — The Mississippi House of Representatives worked late last night and after contentious debate overwhelmingly passed HB 1196 the so-called “Heartbeat bill” which would require abortionists to check for a fetal heartbeat, inform the mother that there was a fetal heartbeat, and – if the Senate passes the current version – prohibit the killing of the child after its heartbeat can be detected.

Personhood Mississippi, the leading principled advocate for Biblical bioethics and equal protection under the law for all human beings from the biological beginning of life until natural death, issued the following statement about this act:

“We are grateful that the House has passed HB 1196 by a wide margin. The intent appears to be that if the Senate passes this bill that surgical abortion in this state will largely be eliminated — representing a protection from death for thousands of unborn children in Mississippi and protection from the Spiritual, emotional and physical danger of abortion for their mothers.

“Especially encouraging is the fact that this act does not dehumanize some preborn children in an effort to save others. Rather it protects an entire class of human beings regardless of their means of conception or perceived imperfections, without devaluing those who have not reached this age. Overall this is a promising next step in the battle in recognizing the personhood of pre-born children and providing them equal protection under the law. If the bill becomes law it begins the process of rolling back judicial usurpations like Roe v. Wade.

“It appears that the 78 Representatives that voted for HB 1196 heard and understood the message their constituents sent on Initiative 26 rather than listening to the abortion industry and their allies in the media. We hope the Lt. Governor Reeves and the State Senate heard the same message and will send this bill without amendment to our solidly pro-life Governor Phil Bryant.”