Personhood Mississippi president Les Riley announced yesterday that the group will begin another petition drive to put a personhood initiative back on the ballot.
Riley made the announcement at a "Women for Personhood" press conference, where women who support personhood efforts responded to groups who view personhood as anti-women.
"Abortion is war on women," Anne Reed, who had an abortion when she was 17, told the JFP. "... Abortion damages a woman in every way—physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually—in every way."
Part of the reason several personhood resolutions died in committee, Riley told the JFP, is probably because legislators think the people have spoken on personhood.
"We think the people have spoken, we just don't think they said, 'We don't want this;' they said 'We want something better.' I think that's part of it," he said. "... Ultimately, we're going to win the hearts and minds of the people, because it's the right thing. Social change is not something that happens overnight."
Riley also announced that Personhood Mississippi has signed an agreement with the conservative nonprofit law firm Liberty Counsel to work together on any future legislation or litigation, and will be activating its political action committee to support personhood efforts as well as to tell voters which politicians supported Initiative 26 before the election, but didn't support anti-abortion efforts in the Legislature.
Read more in the JFP next week.