Voters in Mississippi were set to vote on a measure that would introduce the toughest anti--abortion restrictions in the US by giving all fertilized embryos the same rights as people.
The “personhood amendment,” formally known as ballot measure 26, aims to redefine the term “person” to begin at the point of conception, which would outlaw abortion at a stroke, as well as restrict infertility treatment that results in the loss of embryos and some birth control.
The one-paragraph initiative asks voters: “Should the term ‘person’ be defined to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the equivalent thereof?”
According to a survey by Public Policy Polling on Monday, 45 percent of respondents supported measure 26, while 44 percent were against it. Many of the 11 percent of undecided voters were from groups who tended to oppose the measure: women, Democrats and blacks. The vote was set for yesterday.
The amendment is part of a swing across conservative US states, particularly in the south, toward legislation to begin life at conception, undermining Roe versus Wade, the landmark US Supreme Court ruling that set out the right to abortion 38 years ago.
Personhood USA, the group behind the movement, failed to convince voters in Colorado to pass a similar measure banning the destruction of fertilized eggs, but this time they have focused on one of the most religious and anti-abortion states in the US.
The amendment has backing from both Republican and Democrat politicians, including both candidates for governor.
Opponents of the measure, including the Mississippi State Medical Board, the National Infertility Association and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, say the amendment would have a series of “unintended consequences” which could seriously harm the medical care of women, effectively ban in vitro fertilization (IVF) and, by outlawing abortion, could criminalize doctors involved in routine medical care.
In a statement last month, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists urged people to vote no.
It said that although it believed the intention of supporters was not to do harm, “we fear that the people of Mississippi, as well as the doctors, could be collateral damage in the war over abortion.”
Critics say the proposal makes no allowances for abortion in cases of rape, incest or the mother’s health and could bring women who miscarry under suspicion.
Freda Bush, an obstetrician gynecologist and a supporter of the “yes” campaign, said the measure would not stop IVF, but said it would be restricted.
She says ectopic pregnancies would not be affected because “it is clear” the fetus is not viable.
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