Personhood loses in Mississippi

The Associated Press has reported that the personhood measure in Mississippi has lost.

The measure would have conferred personhood on fertilized eggs and would have outlawed abortion in all cases. The measure was widely seen as likely to pass right up until the end.

Planned Parenthood spokesperson Tait Sye released this statement:

“The defeat of the so-called ‘personhood’ amendment in Mississippi is a major victory for women’s health.

“Mississippi voters rejected the so-called ‘personhood’ amendment because they understood it is government gone too far, and would have allowed government to have control over personal decisions that should be left up to a woman, her family, her doctor and her faith, including keeping a woman with a life-threatening pregnancy from getting the care she needs, and criminalizing everything from abortion to common forms of birth control such as the pill and the IUD.

“We congratulate the Mississippians for Healthy Families Coalition, which ran an amazing campaign to educate voters about the dangerous impact of the amendment.

“Mississippians from all walks of life, medical professionals, clergy, parents, and young women and men, spoke out in opposition to the amendment.

“The more voters learned about the many dangerous and extreme consequences of the initiative, the more they opposed it. Polling showed that in the final days leading up to the vote, when voters were given information about the so-called “personhood” amendment, support for it dropped below 50 percent.

“In what Gallup ranks as the most conservative state in the nation, voters of all political persuasions rejected the measure.

“Mississippi is now the second state to reject ‘personhood.’ Colorado defeated the so-called ‘personhood’ amendment by wide margins in 2008 and 2010.”

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

Comments are closed.