Personhood Florida received a major endorsement this week from the Family Research Councilās Tony Perkins. The announcement is significant for the Florida affiliate of Personhood USA, which wants to place a āfetal personhoodā amendment on the Sunshine Stateās 2014 ballot.
Personhood measures, which would define life as beginning at the moment of conception, have cropped up across the country ā most notably in Mississippi, where a personhood amendment failed on the stateās November 2011 ballot but might soon receive legislative support.
Personhood Florida leader Pastor Bryan Longworth has told the Independent that his group remains undeterred by the loss in Mississippi, and recently started a two-year push, aiming for placement on the stateās 2014 ballot.
The Family Research Councilās endorsement could certainly prove helpful to the group, whose lastĀ attempt at a ballot initiative proved unpopular even amongst anti-abortion legislators and organizations, many of which deemed it too extreme, instead lending their support to bills like the one requiring all abortion-seeking women to undergo ultrasounds.
āI applaud the good folks of Florida for challenging the culture of death and championing life at all stages,ā said Perkins, in his endorsement. āThe Florida ProLife 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.ā
Personhood Florida recently adopted new ballot language which, according to the groupās website, was proposed by the Family Research Council and ādesigned by a think tank of prolife personhood attorneys and satisfies 11 conditions needed to unite prolife ministries.ā
Personhood Florida is currently working on a plan to contact every church in Florida between now and the end of the year, so that each church can present the groupās personhood petition to its parishioners in January.
