On Nov. 8, Mississippi voters will be able to vote on a bill that will define “personhood” as beginning at the moment of fertilization.
Brad Prewitt, executive director of “Yes on 26,” said the word fertilization is used to ensure those outside the womb—like frozen invitro-fertilization embryos—will be protected.
“Basically what personhood does is legally establish that life begins at conception,” Prewitt said. “The earliest biological moment, natural or artificial, that a person begins is at fertilization. When an egg and sperm combine, that embryo becomes a person, and personhood says that under Mississippi Constitution, the unborn are entitled to due process of the law.”
Abortion-rights advocacy groups such as Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi and the Center for Reproductive Rights have voiced concerns over the choice of wording in the bill.
Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy council of the Center of Reproductive Rights in New York, said the choice of the word fertilization could possibly have numerous ramifications on contraceptives and IVF.
 ”The Center for Reproductive Rights strongly opposes this amendment,” Goldberg said.
 
 
“People think it’s only about abortion, but it could limit access to IVF, which a lot of people rely on to build their families. Because some contraceptives can prevent fertilized eggs from implanting on the womb, the bill could also affect women’s access to contraceptives. There’s a lot of uncertainty over where this amendment could lead,” Goldberg said.
Prewitt said the concerns over effects of hormonal birth controls are unwarranted.
“We’re very clear that the measure is only for abortion,” he said. “This does not impact the pill. 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, is the only contraceptive 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.”
Prewitt said IVF will also not be affected by the bill.
“IVF is not an issue at all,” he said.  “(The bill) says you can’t kill the embryos you create. If you have frozen embryos and you don’t want them, you can put them up for adoption. Unfertilized eggs don’t count because a human has not yet been conceived.”
Goldberg said the bill will eliminate women’s personal reproductive options.
“I think this idea that you will redefine personhood to encompass from fertilization will prevent or eliminate women’s options once they become pregnant,” she said. “The most important issue here is that this is a significant intrusion by the government into people’s personal lives. The issue seems to be about abortion on the surface, but it’s really a much bigger issue.”
Jessica Wilson, sophomore wildlife and fisheries science major, said the issues concerning the bill are important to college students.
“I think it’s important to vote on any issue, and this one is no exception,” Wilson said. “Issues like this affect us (college students) more now than in the past; because when we were younger, we couldn’t really relate to issues like this. But now we’re all adults and need to start thinking about how we feel about issues like personhood and abortion.”
Prewitt said despite what will happen on Election Day, the issue of personhood is still important.
“Our campaign is about being life-affirming,” he said. “We just want to pass the law that protects the rights of the unborn. No matter what happens on Election Day, it’s still an important conversation.”