No 'Personhood' Amendments Will Appear on Any Ballot this Election Day

Soup Not-si Paul Ryan may believe that human life begins at conception, but that view isn’t quite as popular with the rest of sane America. Or the court system, apparently. After failing to pass Personhood in Mississippi last fall, not a one “Zygotes Are People, Too!” measure will be appearing on any state ballots this November 6th. But don’t go dancing on the movement’s grave just yet; fuckery is — as fuckery tends to be — still afoot.

Irin Carmon at Salon reports that despite lots of big talk last year from the Colorado-based Personhood USA folks, in every state where they’ve tried to put the humanity of zygotes up for a popular vote, either the courts have pretty much laughed them out the door (as in Oklahoma) or they’ve faced deafening voter apathy (as in Ohio). Does this mean that we can declare Personhood a complete and utter failure once and for all?

No. No, it doesn’t. Personhood’s state-by-state amendment strategy is quickly becoming the failingest fail that ever did fail, but that doesn’t mean it’s not seeing demoralizing success in state legislatures. And while voters may not be keen on embracing a constitutional amendment that will likely make it difficult for infertile couples to conceive or rape victims to assert deserved control over their violated bodies, they’re more on the fence about other, more roundabout ways the anti-abortion movement is trying to gradually erode your right to decide what is best for your body.

Obligatory don’t-get-cocky finger wagging aside, the future of anti-abortion ballot measures is about as bright as a LiveAction sting operation. In the last 7 years, 10 of the 11 anti-choice ballot measures put before voters at the state level have failed, and the public just doesn’t seem interested in voting to limit the rights of other people.