Miss. Lt. Gov. Records Phone Message Supporting 'Personhood' Ballot Initiative

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion
Article Date: 18 Jan 2010 - 1:00 PDT

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Mississippi Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) has recorded a phone message encouraging residents to sign a petition supporting the inclusion of a "personhood" amendment on the 2011 state ballot, the AP/Mississippi Sun Herald reports. The message is being sent to thousands of residents in the southern part of the state.

The message went out this week on behalf of the group Personhood Mississippi, which is pushing for a vote on an amendment to the Mississippi Constitution that would define the beginning of life as "the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof." The group must collect at least 89,285 signatures by Feb. 12 to place the initiative on the ballot.

Bryant was not paid for the call, according to Ryan Burrell, executive vice president of Washington Political Group, which was hired by Personhood Mississippi to send the message. Burrell said the company to date has called about 15,000 Republican voters in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. It aims to call around 120,000 households.

According to the AP/Sun Herald, if the measure is included on the ballot in 2011, it would coincide with the election for governor and lieutenant governor. Bryant has not announced if he will run for governor, but many expect him to be a candidate (Newsom, AP/Mississippi Sun Herald, 1/14).

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