PERSONHOOD NEVADA
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Personhood Nevada?

Personhood Nevada is ballot initiative group seeking to amend the state constitution to protect everyone's right to live.

How are you amending the Nevada constitution?

Nevada has a straightforward citizen-initiated constitutional amendment process. To be placed on the 2010 ballot, petition signatures must equal 10% of the voter turnout in the last presidential election (approximately 97,000 signatures). Thereafter, a simple majority in two successive statewide elections amends the state constitution.

What is the proposed Amendment language?

The language to amend the Nevada Constitution is: "In the great state of Nevada, the term 'person' applies to every human being."

Is that it? Isn't the Amendment language too simple?

Personhood Nevada believes in the value of simplicity and clarity for language in our Nevada Constitution. We salute and share Nevadans' individualism, independent spirit and healthy dubiety of government. We have therefore chosen straightforward Amendment language which everyone can understand, not just lawyers and politicians. Albert Einstein once said, "Everything should be as simple as possible but not more so." Our goal is adopt clear and simple language such that children will be able to explain it clearly to lawyers.

What is the government's role?

This is a citizen-led initiative. As our founding fathers duly noted, mankind's right to live is granted by our Creator. In other words, civil rights come from God, not our government. While the state has no authority to grant inalienable rights, it has the obligation to protect them. The government has failed to protect the people whom it serves. Article I Section 8 of the Nevada constitution states, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." Currently many Nevadans are deprived of their inalienable civil rights, specifically their fundamental right to live, due to an arbitrary and discriminatory distinction between person and human being. This Amendment addresses this fundamental civil right by protecting everyone's right to live.

Isn't this the government's job?

Unfortunately, government is part of the problem. With an ever more oppressive federal government lacking the leadership necessary to protect the weakest and most vulnerable among us, the people of Nevada are therefore taking the necessary action to correct this injustice.

Why is this Amendment needed?

This Amendment addresses the most important civil right, the right to live, without which all other civil rights are irrelevant. Currently in Nevada, this fundamental right is being denied to prenatal children who may be killed at any time, for any reason. Federally, health care legislation threatens to isolate non-productive persons rendering them unworthy to obtain the same benefits as other, more productive citizens. Health care rationing combined with the creation of "death panels" for our infirm and senior citizens is predatory and discriminatory. This Amendment will establises that all human beings are persons worthy of Constitutional representation and protection.

Why is the right to live so important?

The simple truth is, you can't do much if you are dead. You cannot exercise free speech if you're dead nor can you exercise freedom of religion or any other Constitutional right. The right to exist as a person in our state and nation is the one right that supercedes all others. Without this right, all other rights are irrelevant, for if the government is allowed to arbitrarily strip away the right to live from a select group of citizens, they can do it to any and all groups, including yours.

Why now?

It is always the right time to correct a civil wrong! Innocent children (and sometimes their mothers) die tragically every day, as the abortion industry preys upon them. Innocent seniors are now being pressured to die as big government decides they are no longer useful or productive. This Amendment protects the right to live for everyone, which is the fundamental civil right.

Will this end abortion?

The abortion industry is profit-driven and predatory. Abortion by its very nature discriminates based on age, depriving children, our youngest citizenry, of their fundamental right to live. Abortion also discriminates against women, as girls are killed more often than boys. The abortion industry targets and discriminates against minorities and those of lower income. The Amendment protects everyone's right to live. This Amendment will prevent an abortionist, or anyone else, from killing an innocent human being.

Isn't abortion a decision between a woman and her doctor?

The abortion industry has perpetrated this untruth. There is another person involved, the prenatal child. This Amendment recognizes the unborn child is affected by and has a vested interest in any decision to abort. The unborn child is the person most affected by abortion and is entitled to his/her right to live.

Isn't abortion a woman's right?

A woman may do what she wishes with her own body. But in the case of abortion, there is another person involved - the child. Taking the life of another is not a right! To generate sympathy for its position, the abortion industry has perpetrated the untruth of a woman's "right" to end her pregnancy by killing her child. This Amendment recognizes the prenatal child as the person most affected by abortion, and protects that person's right to live.

Doesn't Nevada law protect abortion?

The truth is, federal and state law once protected slavery as well. Laws are not always just. Slavery denied the personhood of Africans brought to America. Abortion denies the personhood of Americans who already reside here. Freedom isn't free! As with the abolition of slavery, we must vigilantly strive to protect those denied personhood. The right to live is the fundamental civil right. Those that would negate this right, whether for profit or political expediency, are discriminators. By amending Nevada's Constitution, we will codify everyone's right to live, superceding any existing state laws to the contrary.

Doesn't the U.S. Constitution protect abortion?

The truth is, slavery was once ruled to be a right under the U.S. Constitution (see: U.S. Supreme Court Dred Scott v. Sanford 1857). People make mistakes. A few people in black robes who declare "a Constitutional right" do not automatically establish a new Constitutional truth. The Dred Scott decision denied the personhood of Africans transported to America as slaves. Hitler denied the personhood of Jews, gays, handicapped, etc.). Abortion denies the personhood of American children.

How does this Amendment affect birth control?

This Amendment protects everyone's right to live. The protections afforded under this Amendment begin when life begins. It does not affect birth control methods unless those methods threaten another person's right to live.

Do any forms of birth control affect someone's right to live?

Some birth control methods directly cause an prenatal child to die. Others, as a side effect, act to cause the child to die.

What do you mean by end-of-life issues?

As a society, we should honor and protect our senior citizens! Government is becoming significantly more intrusive. Big government breeds mistrust. Even now, Government bureaucrats are attempting to create "death panels" and incentives to encourage our elderly and infirm to die quickly. Our government no longer views these human beings as 'productive' members of society. This is both horrible and tragic and must be prevented.

Encouraging the elderly to die is predatory and a diabolical form of social engineering. This Amendment protects our elderly by codifying personhood for everyone regardless of age. Once enacted, government cannot discriminate based on age, health, function, physical or mental dependency, or cognitive ability.

How does this Amendment affect me?

This Amendment benefits all Nevadans, eliminating discrimination and segregation based on age and health. This Amendment codifies the inalienable right to life for everyone, young or old, healthy or ill, conscious or unconscious, born or unborn. It assures protection and dignity to our children, our infirmed and our seniors. This Amendment protects you, your children and your children's children. It also ends forever Nevada's last unconstitutional and immoral laws which promote death as the answer for unwanted, unloved human beings.

How can I help?

Call Personhood Nevada at 702-556-1134. Or Contact us to register as a volunteer. One of our associates will get in touch with you right away!