Oklahoma Supreme Court rejects embryo 'personhood' measure
The high court rules unanimously that a proposed state constitutional amendment that would define a fertilized human egg as a person violates U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Associated Press
April 30, 2012, 10:06 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday halted an effort to grant "personhood" rights to human embryos, saying the measure is unconstitutional.
The state's highest court ruled unanimously that a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution defining a fertilized human egg as a person violates a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a Pennsylvania case and "is clearly unconstitutional." Supporters of the personhood amendment were trying to gather enough signatures to put it before Oklahoma voters on the November ballot.
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The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights filed a protest with the state Supreme Court on behalf of several Oklahoma doctors and residents. They asked the court to stop the group Personhood Oklahoma from gathering signatures.
The nine-member court determined that the initiative petition "is void on its face" and struck it down.
More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oklahoma-personhood-20120501,0,3372292.story