The life of each human being begins at conception;...The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge on behalf of the unborn child at every stage of development all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state.

Many states have recently been considering laws either limiting or banning abortions. Earlier this week, the Virginia House of Delegates [official website] passed a similar bill that would also define life as beginning at conception [JURIST report]. Earlier this month, the Virginia Senate approved legislation requiring a woman to have an ultrasound before an abortion [JURIST report]. Last November, Mississippi voters rejected [JURIST report] a ballot measure [Initiative 26 materials] that would have amended the state constitution to define the word "person" or "persons" to include "every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof." The initiative, which would have given fetuses rights from the moment of conception, was defeated by more than 55 percent of the state's voters. In October 2011, an Oklahoma state court judge issued a temporary injunction [JURIST report] against a new Oklahoma law that restricts how doctors may use abortion-inducing drugs to treat patients.