INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 22

SPONSOR: David Rogers, Post Office Box 8240, Biloxi, MS 39535

SUBJECT MATTER: "Ultimate Human Life Amendment"

PROPOSED BALLOT TITLE: Should the Mississippi Constitution be amended to adopt legal standards defining and protecting human life as provided in Initiative #22?

PROPOSED BALLOT SUMMARY:  Initiative #22 would amend the Mississippi Constitution to require legal recognition that human life begins and is protected at the moment of conception, and to forbid taking the life of a person by aiding a suicide attempt or by depriving an unborn person of life. 'Person' would be defined (without regard for conditions such as race, sex, age, health, function or dependency) to include all stages of biological development from conception until natural death.

ORIGINAL FILING: November 30, 2005

STATUS: Expired.

  
Initiative Information

The official ballot title and ballot summary for an initiative measure are prepared by the Mississippi Attorney General's Office. Initiative petitions are valid for one year. According to Mississippi law, for an initiative petition to be sufficient a minimum of 91,673 certified signatures must be gathered; with at least 18,355 certified signatures from each of the five congressional districts. The number of signatures required represents 12% of the total number of votes cast for Governor in the last gubernatorial general election. All signatures on the petition must be certified by county Circuit Clerks as those of registered Mississippi voters.

For more information on the initiative process in Mississippi, consult the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, Section 273; and Miss. Code Ann., Sections 23-17-1 through 23-17-61 (1972).