Oklahoma personhood measure struck down by Supreme Court
The Mississippi would ban some birth control methods, like “morning-after” pills.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday stopped an attempt to give personhood rights to human embryos, saying the measure is unconstitutional.
The court ruled unanimously that the proposed amendment to Oklahoma's constitution that would define a fertilized human egg as a person would violate a 1992 US Supreme Court decision and is "clearly unconstitutional," reported Fox News. Supporters of the amendment are trying to gather signatures so that it can be put before Oklahoma voters in November. Opponents argue it would ban abortions without exception and interfere with a woman's rights to certain forms of contraception and medical procedures.
More from GlobalPost: Virginia shelves personhood bill
The 1992 Supreme Court decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey allows states to pass some restrictions on abortions, but prevents them from taking away the constitutional right to end a pregnancy, according to the Huffington Post.
"The mandate of Casey is as binding on this Court today as it was twenty years ago," the Huffington Post said the Oklahoma Supreme Court wrote in its decision today. "Initiative Petition No. 395 conflicts with Casey and is void on its face and it is hereby ordered stricken."
Today's ruling is the personhood movement's second major defeat in Oklahoma, reported Reuters. A personhood bill passed the Oklahoma state Senate in February, but its House of Representatives didn't bring it to a vote last week.
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