Ron Paul signs Personhood USA pledge, joining four other GOP candidates

Personhood USA pledge signatories

Personhood USA pledge signatoriesFive GOP presidential candidates — Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and more recently, Ron Paul — have signed a pledge drafted by Personhood USA in which the candidates promise to support a Constitutional amendment and federal legislation imposing "personhood" laws.  Personhood USA seeks to "glorify Jesus Christ in a way that creates a culture of life so that all innocent human lives are protected by love and by law."

The personhood legislation will recognize zygotes as human beings having constitutional rights and ban assisted suicide, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and "procedures that intentionally destroy developing human beings." Critics of the so-called personhood amendments point to their potential to ban common forms of birth control. While personhood advocates claim that a potential ban on birth control is a lie promulgated by Planned Parenthood and people who support abortion, Personhood USA's spokesman, Walter Hoyeman, admitted to NPR last October that women's abilities to use IUDs and birth control pills would be impacted by personhood legislation.

Personhood amendments, which contain no exceptions, will force women impregnated through rape or incest to carry the fetus to term and will also force them to carry to term fetuses that have severe medical conditions that make the fetus unviable, such as in the case of Danielle Deaver, a Christian woman in Nevada who, because of the state's new anti-abortion laws, was forced to suffer for six days earlier this year to deliver a baby that died shortly after birth.

Personhood USA's pledge reads:

I __________________ proclaim that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, and is endowed by our Creator with the unalienable right to life.

I stand with President Ronald Reagan in supporting “the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death,” and with the Republican Party platform in affirming that I “support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and endorse legislation to make clear that the 14th Amendment protections apply to unborn children.”

I believe that in order to properly protect the right to life of the vulnerable among us, every human being at every stage of development must be recognized as a person possessing the right to life in federal and state laws without exception and without compromise. I recognize that in cases where a mother’s life is at risk, every effort should be made to save the baby’s life as well; leaving the death of an innocent child as an unintended tragedy rather than an intentional killing.

I oppose assisted suicide, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and procedures that intentionally destroy developing human beings.

I pledge to the American people that I will defend all innocent human life. Abortion and the intentional killing of an innocent human being are always wrong and should be prohibited.

If elected President, I will work to advance state and federal laws and amendments that recognize the unalienable right to life of all human beings as persons at every stage of development, and to the best of my knowledge, I will only appoint federal judges and relevant officials who will uphold and enforce state and federal laws recognizing that all human beings at every stage of development are persons with the unalienable right to life.

Gingrich, Santorum, Bachmann and Perry have all touted their Christian faith as the root for their socially conservative values. Paul has been characterized as "the champion of liberty" and is also Christian according to his campaign website.  When he ended his presidential campaign in 2008, he endorsed Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party's candidate.  The Constitution Party endorses a Christian theocracy based on Biblical text, stating in its platform:

The Constitution Party gratefully acknowledges the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of these United States. We hereby appeal to Him for mercy, aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Providence as we work to restore and preserve these United States.

This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been and are afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.

The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries.

Editorial note — See Paul's qualifying letter, linked in the trackbacks below re: Conservatives fretting over Ron Paul.

D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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  • KJ

    Actually, YOUR discourse on what 'personhood amendments' say was not in the pledge. No one signed YOUR description.

  • Joe Rest

    At least we can be assured that Ron Paul's pledge will be one that can be counted on. There's no telling with the others as their histories are stained with hypocrisy and flip-flopping and pandering to voters first then later to lobbyists.

  • RL

    This is disgusting. Another candidate who will only support my rights if I'm a fetus or a white, male, heterosexual Christian.

    • Casey

      RL: That is the most racist/ignorant thing I have heard. You should be ashamed of yourself. As a white heterosexual male it is harder for me to find a job or be promoted vs others. I am a veteran and a hold a BA in Business but due to "equal oppertunity" I struggle to find employment and support my family as employers are pushed to diversify due to government involvment.

      • CB

        Maybe if you learned how to spell "opportunity"; perhaps you could find one.

  • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

    I oppose assisted suicide, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and procedures that intentionally destroy developing human beings.

    Translation: "I oppose quality of life, science and all around intellectualism, preferring to save and collect acorns, instead of saving wildlife habitats and women's lives."

    Sorry, Casey, but I'm with RL, in that I am sick and tired of WASPs.

  • Katharina

    What an unbelievable hypocracy from a people entangled in a multitude of immoral and illegal wars, hellbent to kill and slaughter, loot and plunder. You pretend to value life? That has to be the biggest joke I've ever heard.

    And by the way, your country wasn't founded on any religious gospels, but on a genocidal rampage from coast to coast.

  • Chad

    PLEDGE? I stand with President Ronald Reagan in supporting "the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death," and with the Republican Party platform in affirming that I "support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and endorse legislation to make clear that the 14th Amendment protections apply to unborn children."

    –

    This is disgusting – as a Ron Paul supporter since the 80s, for the 1st time, I have lost faith in Ron Paul with this nonsense Pledge. Who is Ron Paul to make law over anyone based upon his "BELIEFS" – this flies in the face of everything he has ever stood for. Furthermore, there is NOTHING IN THE BIBLE AGAINST ABORTION. In fact, the Bible CLEARLY states that a fetus is nothing more than human cells, the same kind that die by the millions and billions daily.

    According to the Bible, life begins when you start breathing – breath is life (most other major religions also, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc).

    Genesis 2:7
    And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

    Genesis 7:22
    All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

    Job 27:3
    All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.

    Job 33:4
    The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

    Exodus 21:22
    If a man causes a woman to have a miscarriage, he shall be fined; however, if the woman dies then he will be put to death.

    Ezekiel 37:5&6:
    Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

    John 20:22
    He breathed on them and said, `Receive the Holy Spirit.'

    –

    The spirit enters human flesh when it begins to breathe, and leaves the flesh when it stops breathing. Only human babies cry upon taking their first breath. There is nothing special about DNA joining – it's just chemistry. Anyway, IF a human soul was in a fetus, what the hell would it do there? It would be the ultimate in solitary confinement and sensory deprivation – humans would be born mad if their spirits inhabited fetuses.

    THE WHOLE ABORTION ISSUE IS NONSENSE! It only has foundation in the perverts that like to get off watching abortion videos, finding in them some ignorant emotional authority to make law over others.

    KEEP YOUR "BELIEFS" TO YOURSELF RON PAUL!
    Natural Law is something every human agrees upon. Nobody argues "don't destroy/steal property of others", "don't break contracts/promises". Abortion and the beginning of life is a matter of opinion, and no "majority" has any authority to force their "opinion" on others.

    The fact is, abortion and even infanticide has been part of human life since the beginning. Human life has never (until recent technology/civilization) has a place for those that are not fit to live. Also, biological accidents happen, and only today do we dare care to keep them alive, and how a poor soul must suffer inside a body unfit for life.

    ALSO, you are BLIND if you can't see that this is an ENSLAVEMENT TRAP – for the govt to declare a fetus a 14th amendment citizen BEFORE it has even signed Socialist inSecurity papers. It totally bans sovereigns that do not want to contract with the feds and sign up as a "US/federal citizen/slave". If Ron Paul did indeed sign a pledge to this effect, he is a TOTAL LOSER and I WILL NEVER SUPPORT HIM EVER AGAIN!

    • http://www.goddiscussion.com admin

      While I agree with you, Chad, about the "breath" (which happens to be my interpretation of scriptures), I can understand bans on late term abortions where there is a chance that the fetus could, with medical help, live outside the womb, but the personhood amendments are absolutely insane. We have covered these here at GodDiscussion over the years and are well aware of the horrible legal implications that they create, such as women having miscarriages facing criminal charges and bans on birth control. In some parts of Mexico, where there are personhood laws, women are imprisoned for having miscarriages:

      http://www.goddiscussion.com/29646/imprisoned-for-a-miscarriage-tough-abortion-laws-in-mexico/

      Criminal investigations of women suffering miscarriages does not come "out of the blue." When former Rep. Rick Jore was pushing for personhood legislation in Montana, he admitted publicly that this would happen.

      http://www.goddiscussion.com/14307/news-from-the-egg-people-front-32-states-and-counting/

      Personhood USA has admitted that common birth control pills, which stop a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, will be banned because they think that fertilized eggs are human beings and it is murder to not let them develop.

      In one of our recent GodDiscussion shows, a friend of mine — a devout Christian who truly wanted her baby — almost died before Roe v. Wade because doctors were not able to remove (or "abort") a fetus that was dead inside of her womb, due to fears of criminal investigation.

      I could go on and on about the dangers of these personhood amendments.

      I have to admit that in the 2008 election cycle, I supported Ron Paul and sent money I could have spent elsewhere to his campaign because of his anti-war stance and some other views. When he endorsed the Constitution Party, my red flags went up. The fact that he signed this pledge along with other religious right activists who want a soft theocracy in the US has disgusted me and like you, will never support him again.

      Mississippi, the most religious state in the US, voted against a proposed personhood amendment. Personhood USA demands in its pledge that candidates support these amendments on state and federal levels — so in other words, if the states don't pass them, they want to impose something totally against the will of the people on a federal level. Paul is always talking about state rights. This seems to contradict that rhetoric.

      I think many who oppose abortion on an emotional level are well intended, but I don't think they have thought through the consequences of legislation such as these personhood amendments. It seems to me that education about abortions and birth control are the only sensible ways to decrease abortions. To impose through law a "biblical morality" on all women, whether they believe or not, is frightening at best, and will have terrible consequences.

      I will say this about Paul — at least he is an anti-abortionist who is anti-war. Many of these "pro-lifers" don't seem to have a problem with hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians being killed in war.

      Former NM Governor Gary Johnson expresses Libertarian views in a sensible, compassionate, non-religious way. It is a terrible shame that the media and party have essentially banned him from a chance of a shot at the nomination.

      Deborah

  • COinMS

    Mr. Ron Paul has to pander to the hardliners in the christian right wing of the GOP now that he is really a contender. It is a calculated move. His advisors are hoping that his core constituency will stay with him, regardless of his giving in to the theocratic right on social issues.

    • http://www.goddiscussion.com admin

      I agree, COinMS, that it is a calculated move. However, if he is giving in to the theocratic right now, he will give into it in the slight chance that he is the GOP nominee and the even slighter chance that he is elected president.

      Deborah

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  • Irenaeus

    Everyone concedes abortion kills something. The crucial question is “what is killed?” If the unborn are not human, no justification for abortion is necessary. But if the unborn are human, no justification for abortion is adequate. As a Catholic I believe human life begins at conception. From that moment, the complete genetic blueprints are there, the DNA is determined, the blood type is determined, the sex is determined, the set of fingerprints that nobody else has are already there. We hear critics describe the unborn as a lump of indiscriminate cells and not recognizable as human. The unborn does not look like a baby the same way the baby does not look like a teen, and a teenager does not look like a senior citizen. The unborn baby looks exactly the way human beings are supposed to look at that stage of development. Don’t be fooled by the Culture of Death.

    • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

      Well, if human life begins at conception and if a fetus has personhood, then so do other animal fetuses. Life begins at conception for them. They are indistinguishable from human fetuses and since they look a like, then unborn cats, dogs, whales, dolphins, chimps, chickens etc fetuses are person too. I say if this passes all of us animal welfare and animal rights people need to go for that, so animals will get more humane treatment, esp endangered ones. Save the Big Cats, bears, whales, and other endangered animals, because they look like us as fetuses. Human fetuses do not like humans, but rather any other cell development and you can't tell the difference between various fetuses.

      • http://www.azoic.com/ Irenaeus of New York

        Mriana said –
        [---
        Well, if human life begins at conception and if a fetus has personhood, then so do other animal fetuses.
        ---]

        No, a chicken is not a person. Last I checked they don't have a will, or a conscience.

        [---
        They are indistinguishable from human fetuses and since they look a like, then unborn cats, dogs, whales, dolphins, chimps, chickens etc fetuses are person too.
        ---]

        See above. Secondly, our nature is determined by our DNA. So humans are distinguishable at the moment of conception.

        You whole argument is predicated false ideas.

        • http://www.houseofbetazed.com Mriana

          IF we are going to declare fetuses with personhood, then all animal fetuses should receive personhood. Fetuses, do not have will either, no matter if they are human or not, thus, it still stands that ALL fetuses would be granted personhood.

          Scientists, would tell you differently, in part because genetic testing is not cheep… er… um… cheap.

          Unfortunately, it does not predicate false ideas unless you are religious and truly believe a bunch of cells have a will.

          One more thing my "Wesley" brought up and that is, a new born baby has not higher cognitive abilities than a slug and a slug has better motor skills than a new born.

          The fact remains, cells are not people, they are just cells and are more likely to die within the first trimester than a person who's already born and living.

  • Irenaeus

    Chad, you are simply wrong on all counts.

    Lk. 1:41-44 –
    Elizabeth’s infant leapt for joy in her womb. The unborn John was filled with joy at the presence of Christ.

    Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17; Mt. 19:17-19 –
    Thou shalt not kill. This is a clear and direct teaching against abortion.

    Ps. 139:13-16; Jer. 1:5; Is. 49:1,5; Mt. 25:34; Gal. 1:15 –
    Before you were born, God knew you. You had personhood.

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  • Lincoln Wilder

    Does the proposed constitutional amendment come with information on how I go about getting a social security number moments after the EPT says we're pregnant? This will forever change the tax code and will be a disaster to administer considering how often Mother Nature terminates pregnancies early. Oh well, partial-year deductions have some value too, I suppose.

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  • nvrbl

    How reassuring that Dr. Paul will not waver in his determination to usurp my autonomy over my body.

    • http://goo.gl/eEs2q Michael Creighton

      Dr. Paul does still actually ("waver in his determination to usurp your autonomy over your body"). He believes states' rights should trump federal in domestic matters (like civil & criminal law). So federal law could call 'intentional embryo extermination' murder, but liberal states might still pass laws to maintain it somehow. I know, his position is too complex to determine whether it's more pro- or anti-abortion. He strongly believes in civil liberties, states' rights, and embryo personhood. He tends to win the support of neither side of the abortion issue, hence this (conciliatory) pledge. But there are far more important issues than 'reproductive rights'/'embryo murder' this election. Everyone else is a Keynesian! They don't understand how Keynesianism is leading our economy over a cliff. Currency collapse will make the abortion issue pretty moot because we'll all be too poor to care. Seriously, if you don't know what's wrong with Keynesianism yet, find out! Here's a sane Christian perspective on the big economic problems we face: Army chaplain Major James Linzey http://goo.gl/eEs2q

  • http://es.photoswomens.com/ Mujeres

    Good food for thought here…  Only time will tell who is right on this issue.

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