'Personhood' Movement Looks for Momentum at State Level

February 28, 2012 — Undeterred by the defeat of a Mississippi ballot measure last fall, "personhood" advocates are attempting to place initiatives on ballots in seven states this year, as well as enact legislation in at least seven other states, Politico Pro reports (Feder, Politico Pro, 2/28). The measures would define fertilized eggs as people with constitutional rights. Opponents say the measures would not only outlaw abortion but also could ban some forms of birth control, restrict in vitro fertilization and lab research, and make physicians wary of helping women with life-threatening pregnancies (Women's Health Policy Report, 10/26/11).

Personhood supporters have not succeeded in enacting a single measure, but they have moved their cause from the fringe of the antiabortion-rights movement to national visibility. Gualberto Garcia Jones, director of legislative analysis for Personhood USA, said that although the Mississippi measure's defeat "was a blow" to the movement, it gave personhood advocates momentum. The group expects to double its fundraising to about $4 million this year.

Abortion-rights supporters said personhood measures are too extreme for most Americans.

"When confronted with the reality of what it means to personify a fertilized egg for contraception, fertility treatments and access to abortion in certain circumstances, it is heartily rejected by the American people," Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said. She added that personhood supporters want to enshrine a "theological view of conception" into law.

Despite its growing visibility, the personhood strategy remains a point of contention among abortion-rights opponents. Some abortion-rights opponents think personhood measures would be unlikely to withstand legal challenges, potentially leading to strengthened, rather than weakened, abortion-rights protections.

Abortion-rights opponents also acknowledge that personhood measures move the debate toward issues -- such as contraception and IVF -- that they have trouble debating. National Right to Life Committee General Counsel James Bopp said, "You're getting into the most difficult issues for the pro-life movement to debate, ... rather than the ones that are most difficult for [abortion-rights supporters] to debate" (Politico Pro, 2/28).