“The right to life is the right of all rights. Without the right to life all other rights are meaningless. Since January 22, 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Roe v. Wade opinion, American has been on the wrong side of life, the Constitution, and most of all America has been on the wrong side of our Creator. Each one of us are accountable for our actions and failure to act. We must pursue every lawful means to defend the defenseless and to speak for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters in the womb. I applaud Personhood Florida for its effort to restore the legal protections of personhood to the preborn. I encourage you to be on the right side of history by working to restore a culture of life in Florida and throughout America.”
Mathew D. Staver*
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Offices in FL, VA, and DC
(800) 671-1776
www.LC.org
*Licensed in Florida and the District of Columbia
Support the ministry of Liberty Counsel at http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=23329
“As a birthmother, I am amazingly blessed to say that I made the choice for life 3 years ago. When you are facing an unplanned pregnancy, none of the choices are easy, all of them are permanent and all of them have consequences. No matter what, you cannot unring the bell. The choice for life doesn’t always mean parenting. For those facing an unplanned pregnancy, there is another option that doesn’t end in death but brings life and blessing to a family that is desperate to love a child as their own. The reason to fight for life is an easy one for us in the pro-adoption arena. Love is the answer.”
Brittany Hudson
Executive Director
The Vessel -For Life
www.the-vessel.org
“Catholics have been in the forefront in the defense of life from the moment of conception until natural death since the Supreme Court handed down the monstrous Roe v Wade decision in 1973 that made abortion legal in all 50 states. We knew it was wrong then and we know it is wrong now. But at long last America is recognizing the disaster that is Roe and its awful consequences. Right now we have an opportunity in our state to enshrine the Right to Life for all citizens and especially our most helpless citizens – the unborn – in the most basic law of our state – the Florida State Constitution, through the Personhood Amendment. In passing this amendment Florida can take the lead in defending life in our country. I urgently ask my brother Knights of Columbus and Catholics everywhere, to join with the ever growing number of Pro-life citizens across our state in support of the Personhood Amendment.”
John J. Giorgis
Pro Life Director
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton KOC Council #13047
Port St. Lucie, Florida
“In keeping with my consistent support for life, I believe in the ‘one exception’ clause for the life of the mother and I support the Georgia Personhood Amendment. I also support, and have consistently done so, the Human Life Amendment to the United States Constitution”.
~Mike Huckabee
2008 Presidential Candidate
“I applaud the good folks of Florida for challenging the culture of death and championing life at all stages. The Florida Personhood Amendment is a reflection of a growing pro-life sentiment across the country and points toward a post-Roe era. I support the petition drive for this amendment and look forward to the day it can go before the voters in Florida.”
Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council
For 22 years I have persistently advocated for the preborn. My involvement in pro-life ministry began a few years after regrettably choosing to abort my own baby when I was 17. Recently, after sharing with a group of college students about my abortion and the reasons why I now advocate for the preborn, I was asked, “If it had not been legalized, would you have had an abortion?” My answer was an emphatic “No!” Laws should differentiate between right and wrong – legalizing abortion did not serve this purpose and it certainly fooled me. Our laws should compliment God’s laws, not contradict them!This is best stated by Daniel Becker, 2011, Personhood: A Pragmatic Guide to Prolife Victory in the 21st Century and the Return to First Principles in Politics “Government cannot be allowed the prerogative of claiming to define a right that has never been within its rightful jurisdiction. The right to life comes from God, not government. Personhood is the human rights movement of the 21st century, not an attorney’s playground. Our prolife policy, objective, strategies and corporate actions should always acknowledge this important fact. The current Personhood debate centers, in substance, around whose authority will direct our course … prudential human reason based upon natural law or prudential human reason based upon divine law.”Crisis pregnancy centers, who have already won the hearts of local pastors, can promote Personhood by adding a Personhood letter, bulletin insert and petition to any mail outs already being sent to their supporters.PersonhoodFL has my full support in their education and promotion of the Personhood Amendment. I am investing much of my time and energies to this cause myself and I encourage you to do so as well! Do you not think that the Good Samaritan had plans for his afternoon when he chose instead to help the injured man on the side of the road? We should all learn by his example as hundreds of thousands of future preborn lives are depending on you to get involved! The buck stops with me and with you!
Wanda Kohn, Director
Pregnancy & Family Care Center, Leesburg, FL
Daniel of the Year recipient, 2007 by World Magazine
Our Founding Fathers said time and time again that they were building a nation for “ages and millions not yet born”. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor for this very purpose. They gave up everything so that “millions not yet born” could have Liberty. If our founders thought so much of the unborn, why do we pledge so little? This is the call of our generation; to stand for the “millions net yet born” to have the same Liberty our founders bled and died for.
God bless America, KrisAnne Hall http://krisannehall.com
My name is Rebecca Kiessling. I am a family law attorney from Michigan and international pro-life speaker. I’ve litigated numerous high-profile cases defending pre-born human life, including the “frozen embryo” case in Michigan — the third of its kind in the U.S.. I’m also an adoptee who was conceived in rape and nearly aborted at two back-alley abortionists. I write this not only with expertise as a pro-life litigator and activist, but also with a personal stake in the outcome. After all, I’m alive today solely because my life was legally protected in Michigan at the time I was developing in utero. Michigan voters and legislators who were 100% pro-life — no exceptions/no compromise — are my heroes. I owe my life to them and that is why I, in turn, do the same for others.
Therefore, I strongly urge everyone to support the Florida Personhood Amendment, which would amend the Florida Constitution to define “person” and “natural persons” as applying “to all human beings, irrespective of age, race, health, function, condition of physical and/or mental dependency and/or disability, or method of reproduction, from the beginning of the biological development of that human being.” This is critical because the 14th Amendment “due process clause” and “equal protection clause” to the United States Constitution state as follows: “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Article 1, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution declares: “All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life.” The majority opinion of the United States Supreme Court in Roe v Wade, Sec. IX, states, “If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment.” However, the Court went on to say: “On the other hand, the appellee conceded on reargument that no case could be cited that holds that a fetus is a person within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.” And then the Court concluded, “In short, the unborn have never been recognized in the law as persons in the whole sense.”
If a majority of states legally recognize the unborn “as persons in the whole sense,” then the whole Roe v Wade opinion collapses. This is why we must support personhood from state to state!
Additionally, with personhood, there are no “exceptions.” It would be ridiculous to suggest that all unborn children are persons except for children conceived in rape. And just to be clear, the Florida Personhood Amendment specifically provides that the term “person” applies irrespective of the method of reproduction.
We’ve been stuck in the desert for nearly 40 years. I’m tired of those who are afraid of the “giants in the land.” Chipping away at abortion has not brought us any closer to ending abortion in our nation. God is not going to honor mediocrity and compromise when it comes to the slaughter of innocent children who He created in His image. I want to have the same spirit of boldness that David and Caleb and Joshua had, recognizing that God is on our side and we don’t need to be afraid. Let’s take this giant out by hitting him where it counts. With this issue, personhood is where it counts, and the opposition knows it.
When you can say that you are pro-life without exception, it’s like saying, “I get it — you matter. Yours was a life worth saving!” Now I hope you’ll go forth and do the same for others by supporting the Florida Personhood Amendment. Let’s get this done.
For life, Rebecca Kiessling, www.rebeccakiessling.com
Our Constitution states that no person shall be denied Life, Liberty or property. Therefore we must define every unborn child as a person. If we can give enemy combatants Constitutional protection, we can and must give it to our unborn babies.
Art Argenio, former FL Representative
We welcome all candidates and representatives of Florida to make the same principled and courageous stand: personhoodFL@gmail.com
I am writing you this note to let you know that I support the PersonhoodFL intitiative. I have personally completed a personhood petition. At its very heart, I believe that the personhood initiative reflects the values of our founders, those being, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mike Hofstee
We have nibbled around the edges of the abortion holocaust for almost forty years and, during that time, more than 50 million babies have been slaughtered. Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of the fact that our goal is not to regulate abortion, restrict abortion, reduce the numbers of abortions or hammer out some sort of accommodation with the abortion lobby. Today, the most important question for the pro-life movement is: when are we going to return to our roots and drive a stake through the heart of this foul-smelling beast? And that doesn’t mean simply overturning Roe v. Wade. It means passing a constitutional amendment that affirms the personhood of the unborn from the instant of fertilization. Until that happens, this battle cannot end; it can only ebb and flow.
Mark Crutcher, President
Life Dynamics Incorporated
I am an independent conservative running for the United States Senate and I believe wholeheartedly in Personhood and if elected to the United States Senate, I will do everything in my power to support Personhood and protect the life of the unborn child.
Bernie DeCastro
P.O. Box 3336
Ocala, FL 34478
www.electbernie.com
We welcome all candidates and representatives of Florida to make the same principled and courageous stand: personhoodFL@gmail.com
America’s Independent Party of Florida endorses the Personhood Constitutional Amendment Initiative and Petition.
America’s Independent Party of Florida is a sovereign political party for the state of Florida under the laws of the state, organized for the purposes of the election of candidates and passing or defeating of measures and other related activity in accordance with the principles of the Party. (CONSTITUTION OF AMERICA’S INDEPENDENT PARTY OF FLORIDA:
ARTICLE I: NAME, IDENTITY, AND AFFILIATION: http://aipnews.com/mxPage.asp?SID=FL&ID=19)America’s Independent Party of Florida urges enactment of the Personhood Constitutional Amendment; we urge our affiliates and others to work to see that it is passed.
This proposal for amending the Florida Constitution is in accord with Florida law and the principle of one nation under God with government of the people, by the people, and for the people. This proposed Personhood amendment reinforces the republican principles of the State of Florida as declared in its Constitutions (current and former), and of America, as stated in its founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. America’s Independent Party of Florida has affirmed these principles in its own constitution, as well as in the constitution of the national America’s Independent Party of which we are a part, which declares and confirms our commitment to these principles.
As free citizens of the United States and founders of America’s Independent Party, we stand in agreement with the founders of our American Republic. Following their example, we declare to the world that our first governmental premise is the self-evident truth that our rights to life, liberty and private property come from our Creator God and are therefore unalienable. With those patriots, we understand that just government can only exist by the consent of the governed.
Our pledge, individually and corporately, is to seek to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We will diligently work to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, and thereby fulfill the stated purposes of the Constitution of the United States and this organization.
In recognition of the multitude of ways in which our nation’s leaders have departed from America’s founding principles, we hereby petition local, state and federal government for redress of such grievances, with the urgent imperative demand that all officers of government henceforth faithfully perform their sworn duty to defend innocent human life and constitutional republican governance.
Our work is dedicated to our God; to all the patriots who came before us in self-sacrifice for liberty; to all of those who now faithfully serve our country; and to the posterity that will enjoy the blessed fruit of all their labors.
Together, as Americans, let us find the principled grounds for cooperation that will allow us to fully restore moral government of, by and for the people.
(CONSTITUTION OF AMERICA’S INDEPENDENT PARTY OF FLORIDA: ARTICLE II: PURPOSES: http://aipnews.com/mxPage.asp?SID=FL&ID=19)Furthermore, the Constitution of America’s Independent Party of Florida states:
In accordance with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution built upon its premise, we affirm the right to life of innocent human beings from conception (fertilization) to natural death. By the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments we affirm both America’s and the state’s governments’ obligation to defend innocent human life.We recognize the personhood of human beings from fertilization (or conception as traditionally understood) to natural death. The Declaration of Independence acknowledges a distinct dignity of human beings when it asserts: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Basic human rights should not be sacrificed to animal rights or other concerns for the environment.
(ARTICLE III: PRINCIPLES: http://aipnews.com/mxPage.asp?SID=FL&ID=19)America’s Independent Party of Florida, in accordance with its own principles and those of America’s Independent Party (National Committee) and the First Principles of America as stated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, and in accordance with the 1885 Constitution (“All men are equal before the law and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life”) and the current Constitution (“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. . . .” Article I: DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, SECTION 9: Due Process) of the State of Florida, endorses the Personhood Constitutional Amendment.
Gregory Poulos
Chairman, America’s Independent Party of Florida
Carl V. Bibeau
Vice Chairman, America’s Independent Party of Florida
Karen Poulos
Secretary, America’s Independent Party of Florida
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of our tiny citizens!
Tami Donnally, Candidate for State House District 85
We welcome all candidates and representatives of Florida to make the same principled and courageous stand: personhoodFL@gmail.com
The Evangelical Bible College and Seminary is pleased to endorse the Personhood Amendment.
Dr. David P. Donnally, President
Fellow Members of Florida’s Pro Life Community:
I wholeheartedly support the initiative for a Personhood Amendment to our state constitution. Not only does pro-life include protecting the unborn, but all people at every stage of their lives. Every individual has dignity and it is not the function of government to decide which lives have more value than others. You have my pledge that as your U.S. Senator I will pursue this at the federal level as vigorously as I led the fight to enact the Partial Birth Abortion Ban during my previous tenure in the U.S. Senate.
May God bless our efforts on this vital issue.
Senator Bob
Robert C. Smith
Former United States Senator (1991-2003); and
Candidate for United States Senate from Florida
This is an official communication authorized by Friends of Senator Bob Smith. Paid for by Friends of Senator Bob Smith. Not authorized by any other candidate committee or political action committee.
We welcome all candidates and representatives of Florida to make the same principled and courageous stand: personhoodFL@gmail.com
“Personhood efforts should be in all 50 states and everywhere Life is held in high esteem. It’s the best way to keep our unborn children from dying. Do I hear an Amen!”
-Norma McCorvey, Founder of Roe No More Ministry, Operation Outcry
Pro-Life Activist. Norma has been jailed twice this year for her
pro-life convictions.
[Norma McCorvey is the Jane Roe in the Roe v. Wade decision.]
“As a Father who has lost a child to an abortion, I know the pain that abortion causes. The passing of the Personhood amendment will recognize personhood for all human beings and will save many people the pain that I once endured.
“In seeing my child at eight weeks gestation in an ultrasound, our child had fingers, toes, eyes, everything. I saw and heard my child’s heart beat and I cried. It was a very overwhelming and beautiful experience for me, until she looked over at me and said: “What are you crying about? Worms have heartbeats too”. Her sister had offered to pay $500 for her to get an abortion. She insisted she was going to get the abortion, was planning to get one that weekend, and broke up with me right before.
“I called the abortion clinic and asked what my rights were; they said “You don’t have any”. I then asked them, “What do you do with the aborted babies? I want to bury my child”. They told me that it wasn’t a child, it was a fetus, and to never call again or they would involve the police. My hands were tied. I, as a father had no legal right to protect my child from a death committed by a “doctor”. I called everyone imaginable to see what my rights were and I got the same answer: “nothing”.
“I saw for my own eyes that Personhood starts in the womb.”
-Theo Purington, the father
“Speaking on behalf of Florida Students for Life, it is with great
excitement, zeal and anticipation that I endorse Personhood USA and
Personhood FL. We applaud the mission, the work, and all efforts put
forth by Personhood FL. Particularly, we support their efforts in
working for legislation and constitutional amendments, as appropriate
steps towards freedom and protection for all. We are happy to work
alongside Personhood FL on campuses throughout the state in taking
these monumental steps towards recognizing and defending the right to
life for all persons, from the beginning to the end.”
-Jennifer M. Kacerosky, Executive Director of Florida Students for Life
“Each year when I share with our congregation about the sanctity of human life I am faced with a dilemma. Statistically 50% of those listening have been hurt by the pain that abortion causes. They do not want to hear the word abortion or a sermon about it because it can surface painful memories. So every year I must resolve that the risk of causing pain and being rejected is worth the probability that people will be healed by God. I’ve come to realize that saying nothing is not loving and doing nothing is not loving. We all need to do something when it comes to the life and rights of the unborn. So this year when the opportunity arises to do something about the Personhood Amendment, I humbly ask you to publicly support it among those entrusted to you by God.”
-Pastor Jeff Steffel, Grace Family Church
“The personhood amendment is an important step in re-affirming the value of every single person. I am pleased to endorse this effort to enshrine this principle in the Florida Constitution”
-Dennis Baxley, candidate for State House District 24, Former Speaker Pro Tem of the Florida House of Representatives and Former Executive Director of Florida’s Christian Coalition
We welcome all candidates and representatives of Florida to make the same principled and courageous stand: personhoodFL@gmail.com
“PersonhoodFL is a valuable ally for the unborn children who are aborted each year in our nation at an alarming rate. Sadly, Florida has one of the highest per capita abortion rates, ranking eighth among the 50 states. As the saying goes: ‘He who asks the questions wins the debate.’ We want to ask a question of every Floridian on the November ballot, in effect: ‘Do you believe that life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a person with human rights?’ In our struggle to protect the lives of the innocent, we need to press the issue of when life begins, to get people thinking about it; debating it with their family, friends and colleagues; and ultimately supporting the Personhood of the unborn child at the polls in November.”
-Jay Rogers -, Director of The Forerunner, www.forerunner.com
The Florida personhood movement is momentous. It is important that in every level of the political arena, city, state and national, there is a stalwart line of defense for the smallest person of all, the little human being in the womb. The United States of America consists of fifty states. As the number of states increases where the human being is protected from the moment of conception by state constitutions, more children will live to have fun on a playground. The laws that keep a child safe on the playground is meaningless if laws do not keep a child safe in the womb.
What the Florida Personhood movement is advocating is right and it is just. Those in this movement can achieve a wonderful successful future where every human being is recognized as a person deserving the protection of the state’s constitution in the exercising of their God given rights which includes the right to live, the right to be free and the right to pursue that which makes one happy, even as a child. Just as the ultrasound pictures of pre-born babies serve to remind us, the laughter of children on the playground, the school yard and even at home, is also a purposeful reminder that every person is a human being and every human being is a person.
-Dr. Johnny Hunter, DD, Life Education and Resource Networks learninc.org
Life Coalition International is proud to be a sponsor of Personhood Florida. This is a “fully” pro-life initiative that we can proudly support. PersonhoodFL changes the yardstick that we use to judge “pro-life” from the statement, “I am pro-life because I am against some abortions” to, “am pro-life and I am willing to defend the right to life of all persons not just some!
-Dr. Patricia McEwen, Director, Life Coalition International.
Flip Benham, National Director, Operation Save America
“I heartily endorse the efforts of the Florida Personhood Campaign to firmly re-establish in law the right to life of the human person from the “beginning of the [individual’s] biological development” to the moment of natural death. As Catholics we cannot have any other stance but this! It is both the message of the Gospel and the message of common sense, and every effort to place this issue on the top of voters’ agendas has the support of Human Life International and all our affiliates throughout the world. Our prayers also accompany this work of spiritual battle.”
-Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International, September 1, 2009
“American Life League proudly stands with Florida’s historic movement to recognize the most basic of all human rights – personhood. As we daily battle the ravages of the culture of death, it is clear the only way to heal our land and restore the Founders’ vision is to recognize human personhood as a fundamental and Constitutional right.
Every human being is a person from his or her biological beginning. The mission is simple, the message direct and the result will be a profound return to the value that shaped our civilization.
As the Florida personhood movement blazes a trail for true human rights, we renew our commitment to human personhood as the center and mission of our work at American Life League. Human personhood is the core of Catholic Social Teaching and the foundation of true human rights and dignity. It is always the right time to fight for justice.”
-Judie Brown, President, American Life League
