Today Mississippi voters will be able to vote on Amendment 26, a bill that will define “personhood” as beginning at the moment of conception.
There have been numerous concerns over what effects Amendment 26 will have on birth control options. In a recent interview with NPR’s “Diane Rehm Show,” Walter Hoye, president of Issues4Life Foundation, said any birth control that ends the life of a human being could be affected by Amendment 26. He was unavailable for comment for this article.
When Rehm asked Hoye if he was saying the birth control pill falls into that category, Hoye said once there is an embryo, any birth control method that affects the embryo could be affected.
“I’m saying that once the egg and the oocyte come together and you have that single-celled embryo, at that point you have human life,” Hoye said. “You’ve got a human being, and we’re taking the life of a human being with some forms of birth control, and if birth control falls into that category, yes, I am.”
However, Brad Prewitt, director of Yes on 26, said the concerns over effects on hormonal birth controls are unwarranted.
“This (amendment) does not impact the pill,” Prewitt said. “First off, hormonal birth control stops ovulation, and ovulation precedes fertilization. The production of eggs is not creating a human being, so if you’re stopping eggs, you’re not aborting anything.”
RU-46, commonly known as the morning-after pill or the abortion pill, and other emergency contraception are the only contraceptives that could be affected, Prewitt said.
“The morning after pill will possibly be affected by the measure because RU-46 is actually an abortive,” he said. “It takes a conceived (embryo) and kills it. The only pharmaceuticals this bill will call into question are ones that abort conceived life, so normal hormonal birth control will not even be a factor.”
Catholic Bishop Joseph Latino of Jackson recently stated the Diocese is not taking a public stance for or against Amendment 26.
Mary Woodward, director of the Department of Evangelization and Communications for Diocese of Jackson, said the Catholic Church holds all life sacred from the moment of conception until natural death and seeks an end to abortion, but that at no point has the church asked people to vote for or against this issue.
“We recognize that there are many good and passionate people who respect the sacredness of life on both sides of this issue,” Woodward said. “Individual Catholics may vote as they so choose. We encourage them as faithful Catholics and faithful citizens to study and educate themselves on all the issues surrounding this initiative and every initiative.”
Despite the Catholic Church’s support for an end to abortion, Woodward said the Catholic Church has doubts about the effectiveness of a state constitution’s ability to lead to change on a national level.
“We believe passing a personhood amendment to a state constitution is not an effective means to ending or even reducing abortions, which is our goal as a church on the national level,” Woodward said.