Mississippi Republican governor Haley Barbour seems to have entered the debate over a controversial “personhood” amendment, calling on opponents of the measure to cease using a recording of his voice.
Mr. Barbour, who is set to step down as governor later this year, said Friday he has requested a group opposing the ballot initiative to stop using a recording of his voice in automated phone calls asking voters to oppose the measure.
The measure, which is set to face a vote on Tuesday, would define life as beginning at “fertilization, cloning or the equivalent thereof.” Supporters of the measure say it would allow for bans on abortion. Opponents of the measure say it is the latest attempt to curtail the right of women to seek an abortion.
The recording, which uses a statement made by Mr. Barbour earlier this year, was sent to supporters throughout the state, calling for voters to oppose the measure.
“I’m pro-life,” Mr. Barbour said during an appearance on MSNBC. “Americans United for Life picked me their man of the year several years ago. I believe life begins at conception. Unfortunately this personhood amendment doesn’t say that. It says ‘life begins at fertilization or cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.’ That ambiguity is striking a lot of pro-life people here as concerning and I’m talking about people who are very outspokenly pro-life.”
The Republican governor also called on opponents to cease using the clip.
“A pro-abortion group has called people’s homes and deceived voters into thinking I’m opposed to Initiative 26, the Personhood Amendment,” Mr. Barbour said. “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.”
Speaking Friday, Mr. Barbour said he is still examining whether he will support the amendment.
“I have some concerns about it,” he said in a statement issued Friday, a day after casting his ballot. “But I think all in all, I believe life begins at conception, so I think the right thing to do was to vote for it.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Barbour said that he was still undecided and that the measure was “too ambiguous.” Initiative 26 would define personhood as “every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”
In recent years, a number of states have considered and rejected similar proposals, most notably Colorado, where propositions were voted down in 2008 and 2010. Those efforts and the one in Mississippi were backed by Personhood USA, a Colorado-based group that has attracted antiabortion activists fed up with waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to tilt in their favor.
