FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Keith Ashley
petition@personhoodkansas.com
 
Regional Conference to Feature National Personhood Leaders
 
July 14th, 2010 – Personhood Kansas, in conjunction with Right to Life of Kansas, is excited to announce plans for the Midwest Personhood Pro-life Conference to be held on Saturday, September 11th, 2010, at Riverlawn Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas.
 
The event will provide state personhood leaders across the country an opportunity to network with one another and determine the most effective strategies for pursuing personhood measures in their various states.
 
“We’re intent on protecting every child by love and by law in the state of Kansas, and we want to share that enthusiasm with others in the region,” says Keith Ashley of Personhood Kansas. “This is an invitation to every pro-life advocate dedicated to ending abortion. Whether your group is pursuing personhood in your state, or this is new to you and you want to learn more, feel free to join us.”
 
Panelists and speakers confirmed for the conference include; Rev. Walter Hoye, President of the California Civil Rights Foundation and Issues4Life Foundation, and a leader of the California Human Rights Amendment initiative; Rebecca Kiessling, International Pro-life Speaker, Attorney, and Adoptee who discovered her conception was the result of rape; Johanna Dasteel, Senior Legislative Liaison with the American Life League; Rev. Flip Benham, Director of Operation Save America; Gualberto Garcia Jones, Attorney and President of Personhood Colorado; and Keith Mason and Cal Zastrow, Co-Founders of Personhood USA.
 
“All of our guests will contribute something different to the discussion—experience with successful personhood initiatives, legal and legislative expertise, or an understanding of the moral imperative of working towards recognizing the dignity of all human persons,” Ashley continues. “We are going to be covering a range of topics and answering your questions. Please consider attending this important event as we determine the best way forward.”
 
This event is free to the public. A gift offering will be accepted. Catered meals will be provided. RSVP instructions, venue directions, schedule of events, and hotel options are available online at www.PersonhoodKansas.com/events.

Longtime pro-life advocate and former Kansas Deputy Attorney General, Bryan J. Brown, Esq., has publicly endorsed the personhood movement sweeping the nation. Brown is currently the founder and Director of the ArchAngel Institute in Fort Wayne, Indiana and details his reasoning for supporting the personhood strategy on the ArchAngel blog, “By amending the organic documents that form the very bedrock of the American legal order to protect the unborn we place those little lives in the safest haven which we can reach this side of Eternity. By amending the organic documents that created what the Founders called ‘the laboratories of democracy’ we bind the abortionists with the surest bonds available this side of Hell. By amending the organic documents in keeping with the high ideals of subsidiarity we rebuke a federal system that is drunk of the blood of America’s next generation and set up a case for review before the highest secular court this side of Heaven.”

Brown addresses the concerns of some in the pro-life movement, “Some will say the time is not right for such bold action. Martin Luther King, Jr. was told that as well. We join his reply: ‘The time is always right to do what is right.’ Some will say such action is patently futile. Mother Teresa was told that as well. We join her reply: ‘I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.’ Some will say such action is far too disruptive. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a modern martyr) was told that as well. We join his reply that it is not enough to merely ‘bandage the victims under the wheel,’ we must also ‘jam the spoke in the wheel itself.‘”

Personhood Kansas would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Brown for his keen insight and bold action in defense of those most vulnerable amongst us. Brown is in good company in a long line of Kansas social reformers with familiar surnames such as “Bleeding Kansas” era abolitionist John Brown and Oliver L. Brown, lead plaintiff in the 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education civil rights case.

The ArchAngel Institute is in the process of forming a committee focused on promoting personhood. For more information regarding this project and to read the endorsement in its entirety follow the links below.

http://www.archangelinstitute.org/in-support-of-personhood-post-1/

http://www.archangelinstitute.org/in-support-of-personhood-post-2/

Concerned Women for America is reporting that Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri issued a call on April 23rd via their Twitter page to “Report Personhood petition activity!” More specifically, they asked their supporters to “Be our Eyes and Ears, particularly at and near places of worship!”

One has to wonder what Planned Parenthood hopes to gain from these “reports.” It's probably safe to assume that they believe it is illegal for religious institutions to participate in the democratic process.

Fortunately, Planned Parenthood is, once again, mistaken. As a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund regarding the Missouri personhood initiative points out, “Such charges are no more than scare tactics. The truth is that federal tax law allows a church to spend at least 5% (in some cases, up to 20%) of its total resources on direct lobbying for legislation, which includes both ballot initiatives and referenda. This certainly includes the right of church leaders to urge their congregations to vote for life and in support of the Personhood Amendment. Plainly stated, there is nothing in federal tax law to prevent a pastor from directly telling the congregation to support legislation that the church believes to be beneficial to the community and that would uphold the sanctity of life.”

Personhood Kansas would again like to thank Kansas pastors and churches for their efforts regarding the Personhood Kansas petition drive. If your congregation has not yet participated, we would encourage you to approach your church leadership in support of the right to life and full human personhood for all human beings, born and preborn.

And as always, be on the lookout for new faces to welcome with open arms. As Concerned Women for America asserts, “Anything that gets pro-choicers to attend a church service can't be all bad.”

A new Kansas pro-life organization, Personhood Kansas, is seeking to partner with Christian and pro-life leaders, activists, and volunteers to form a statewide, grassroots coalition. The group was created for a single purpose—to conduct a campaign which results in the amending of the Kansas Constitution so that every child of God is protected by love and by law.

Similar groups have sprung up in several states after a ballot measure to amend Colorado’s constitution was defeated on Election Day 2008. “The effectiveness of the personhood coalition in Colorado has really been the inspiration. They were the first to demonstrate how close we are to recognizing the personhood of the preborn,” said Keith Ashley, Personhood Kansas Petition Drive Coordinator.

Personhood Kansas has advised the drafting of language that would recognize the right to personhood for all human beings from the biological beginning of human development. “Basic biology explains that human life begins at the moment of fertilization. This is the moment when we are no longer talking about functional parts of a woman and a man, but rather, we see a complete, genetically unique, living human being. Just like injustices in the past that relied on the ‘not all human beings are persons’ argument because of our differences such as race or gender, so too, denying the preborn full human personhood is discrimination based on an equally arbitrary human property—age,” explains Ashley.

The organization has started a statewide petition drive with the intent to deliver the responses to the state legislature. “A two-thirds majority of both legislative houses is needed to pass the amendment and that can be a rather challenging endeavor, so it is of the utmost importance that Kansans voice their desire to see this measure passed,” said Ashley.

The amendment process will then call for a referendum which will give Kansans an opportunity to vote the measure into law. “An advantage of a constitutional amendment is that it will be the supreme law of the state. But equally as advantageous is that the process will skip the pro-abortion Governor’s desk altogether and go directly to the people,” Ashley continues.

Personhood Kansas is calling on all Christian and pro-life leaders to get involved by announcing the petition drive and collecting signatures from their churches, parishes, organizations, and events, and by networking with leaders throughout the state. Future plans include a mass emailing and calling campaign, but the group is not advising citizens to wait for instructions. Rather, they are encouraging citizens to start contacting their legislators immediately to voice their support for human personhood in Kansas.

For more information regarding the personhood coalition in Kansas go to www.PersonhoodKansas.com or email them at info@personhoodkansas.com.