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Here is the info from the www.aclj.org site on helping the "decider": Tim from Missouri asks: Could the President issue an executive order or make a proclamation stating that personhood begins either at fertilization or chromosome alignment in order to help avert some of the problems that we have with stem cell research, abortion, and things like that? We've recognized personhood through things like the Fourteenth Amendment and Lincoln did it with the Emancipation Proclamation. Jay answers: The personhood issue is a very good one to consider. Walter Weber, from our office in Washington, DC, has written extensively on this, and this is one of the approaches we think needs to be taken in dealing with this issue: if you declare personhood to be at the time of conception, then constitutional guarantees begin at that time, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- and particularly here, life; it would also include due process rights. We think personhood does a lot in that regard, and that would be a good concept. When the President was sworn in, one of the first acts he did was to stop the funding of abortions overseas. The President since then, in very clear statements, has come out and made it very clear that he's opposed to any type of cloning, whether therapeutic or reproductive. I think his decision on stem cell research was also very measured and very correct, not allowing for new stem cell development, which would be creating life to destroy it. I think he's made a statement; and a Presidential proclamation in and of itself won't do the job, because it could still be declared unconstitutional by a court. So, what you want to see here is movement within the Capitol, and that's something we're working on. We don't have a quick answer to that, but as I said, we are working on it, and personhood is a good way to go. This life issue is critical, and as I've been reporting, Frank Manion from our Midwest office recently went to trial and won a major case involving the life issue, specifically the right of conscience. In that case, a nurse was fired because she refused to dispense the "morning-after" pill due to her religious beliefs. I believe the decision in that case is going to have gigantic ramifications. You can find more information on this or other topics related to your religious freedom on our "Issues Index" page. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn