Mississippi Governor Supports Personhood Amendment

On Friday, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour posted a statement on his official website indicating that he supports Initiative 26, the Personhood Amendment that will appear on the ballot in Mississippi this week. The statement reads:

A pro-abortion group has called people's homes and deceived voters into thinking I'm opposed to Initiative 26, the Personhood Amendment. As I've previously stated, I voted for the Personhood Amendment. These misleading calls were made without my knowledge, without my permission and against my wishes. I have demanded this deception be stopped, and those responsible have assured me that no more calls will be made.

The State Column reported yesterday that the robocalls to which Barbour refers used a portion of an MSNBC interview with Barbour in which he expresses concern about the ambiguity of the language of Initiative 26.  The proposed constitutional amendment provides: "As used in this Article III of the state Constitution, "The the term 'person' or 'persons' shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."