Personhood: Court to decide issue
Proponents of the amendment praised the decision. Opponents decried the legal vagaries of the decision in that Harrison seemed to sidestep the central issue of whether the initiative process can be used to change the state’s Bill of Rights.
In an informative legal analysis in today’s Perspective pages, attorney Lydia Quarles of the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University outlines the legal arguments that will impact the “personhood” initiative in this state.
Regardless of the outcome of the “personhood” amendment in Mississippi, it seems clear that abortion law in the state would continue to be dictated by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized most abortions.
Opponents of the amendment say it raises complicated questions about what would become of frozen embryos that remain after a woman undergoes in vitro fertilization.
Clarion Ledger Editorial
1/23/11
Magnolia Tribune
