U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear Personhood Oklahoma free speech case

Online ad from Personhood Oklahoma.

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case from Personhood Oklahoma concerning free speech. According to a Tuesday press release by Personhood USA, the organization will begin the petition process again. Gualberto Garcia Jones, J.D., legal analyst for Personhood USA, commented, “Personhood USA will continue to pursue legislative and initiative efforts in all 50 states and around the globe, until all unique human beings are protected.”

Liberty Counsel reports that Personhood Oklahoma had been gathering signatures from the Personhood Amendment to be included on the ballot. However, the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights, among others, claimed that the proposed amendment was unconstitutional. The Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed. The amendment would define a “person” as “any human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being to natural death.”

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, noted of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, “The court’s decision not to take up the Oklahoma Personhood initiative has no precedential value. The issue is not about the merits of Personhood, but about whether a state court can interfere with the rights of citizens to gather signatures to amend their constitutions. On the issue, the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision is wrong.”