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I'm posting this again because a list member got a blank with
http://www.aclj.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "rayilynlee" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "parkinsn" <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: "Don C. Reed" <[log in to unmask]>; "Diane Wyshak"
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 12:01 PM
Subject: Bush's executive order on personhood


> 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.
>
>

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