Mississippi's Personhood Amendment: Talking About Unintended Consequences!

Citizens of Mississippi will vote on a constitutional amendment tomorrow that will re-define personhood.  According to the ballot initiative, a person will "include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."  You can imagine that there are those for and against the initiative, and that it is quite contentious, although these days, everything in politics is a "hot-button issue."

I would like to state that I consider myself pro-life.  The fetus is not just a clump of cells equivalent to a tumor or "part of the mother's body."  Although birth marks a time in which the child separates from the mother, its worth and individuality are established long beforehand.  Looking at fetal development, the fetus has all vital organs around the seventh week of gestation.  From a biological standpoint, an unborn child is still genetically a human being.

How do we approach this legally?  This one is trickier.  I don't want to live in a society where abortion is viewed as another form of birth control or where abortion is commonplace.  However, if society were to grant personhood as this amendment proposes, it brings up a few questions:

1. Is birth control going to be outlawed?  And if so, will women in Mississippi have to cross state borders just to use birth control if so desired?
2. If a rape victim uses the morning after pill to prevent pregnancy, is she charged with manslaughter?
3. Will birth control have the same societal stigma as an "assault weapon?"
4. Can an unborn child be a beneficiary in a will?  I bet that will make inheritance laws interesting!
5. If a mother has an abortion when her life is threatened, will doctors be charged for second-degree murder?  Would the mother be charged with accessory to murder or just get off with self-defense?  
6. Can you imagine the number of malpractice suits that would take place?  Think what this would do to a state that already ranks 50th in the nation for healthcare.  
7. If a woman drinks a glass of wine during pregnancy, will the courts charge her with child neglect or child abuse?
8. Can a fetus be claimed as a dependent when filing taxes so a deduction can be acquired?  
9. Can the fetus also be used as a claim to receive government assistance?
10. 10% to 20% of pregnancies sadly result in miscarriages.  Are Mississippi police going to have to investigate each miscarriage as a possible homicide?  Is there enough manpower to do all that investigating?
11. Do fetuses and zygotes count in the Census?  If so, does every single woman in Mississippi have to be subjected to a pregnancy test to assure an accurate count?  Also, will this affect voter districting?
12. Do we need to provide fetuses with Social Security numbers?

This amendment is a train wreck waiting to happen.  Think of how much Mississippi's debt and tax rate will increase in order to enforce this.  Think of how much Big Brother will intervene in the lives of Mississippians.  If this amendment made it to the Supreme Court to attempt to challenge Roe v. Wade, think of how much it would backfire and embolden the "pro-choice" movement.  I really, really hope that this amendment doesn't pass!