From The Archive: The New Face of ‘Personhood’
Every morning, I pour myself a cup of coffee and start my day by reading headlines, catching up on email and skimming through my Twitter feeds. I used to read all the political blogs, reports and breaking news with the same urgency as a rabid sports fan. This year has been different because I’ve started to avoid those link bait stories with the same urgency as I do rabid sports fans.
So, as the political seasons nears I’m finding it harder and harder to avoid political stories of GOP debate flubs, gropes and groans. Avoiding political stories does not make me any less informed about my country’s political process but more in tune due to the simple fact that my ‘bullshit’ and ‘crap’ filters are on full alert. Honestly, I’ve found most of my news through the series of YouTube videos, Bad Lip Reading and newsmen such as Steve Colbert and Jon Stewart. Call me a bad American? How dare you sir…
My point? Well, recently my filters have leaked the story of Mississippi’s ‘Personhood’ amendment – which was rejected Tuesday night by 59% of voters – ‘a ballot initiative that would’ve declared life begins at fertilization’.
Why would my filters let seep such a story, even after all I’ve accomplished in blocking this type of chronicle from my frontal lobe? Well, I can only figure it akin to ‘selective hearing’ or more specifically, ‘Oh wow, I shot something similar to that for a past assignment and I need a ‘From The Archive’ post’ post. Selective hearing indeed.
In May 2008, I was assigned to photograph the face of Colorado’s own ‘Personhood’ amendment movement who was at the time, the 20 year old Kristi Burton and sponsor of the Colorado Human Life Amendment. The shoot was quick, confined to a reserved room in the back of a larger than life suburban Italian restaurant and I left smelling of cheap marinara sauce. Like most stories I’ve shot during my career one or two keep coming back around near election time – this is one that always seems to lurch back into the media spotlight only to be batted back by voters, again and again and again.
Kristi Burton remembers the day, at age 13, when she decided she would spend her life defending the unborn.
She made her commitment to the movement as she lay in bed with a cold or bout of flu, reading a book on community service and watching the 2000 elections on TV.
“It just came to me,” Burton said. “I prayed about it and knew God was calling me to do it.”
You can read the article [ here ]
Just so we are clear:
Fact: As with Mississippi’s ballot initiative, Colorado’s ‘a fertilized egg as a person’ movement also failed.
Opinion: Server Error: 500 Server Error
OK, now I can get back to my Bad Lip Reading.