Oklahoma Court Blocks 'Fetal Personhood' Measure

Oklahoma's Supreme Court has rejected a "clearly unconstitutional" ballot measure that would have defined a fertilized human egg as a person, effectively banning all abortions in the state. The nine justices decided unanimously that the measure should not make it onto the ballot this November because the US Supreme Court has already ruled that women have a constitutional right to an abortion, reports the Oklahoman. A similar measure passed in the state Senate earlier this year died in the state House of Representatives last week.

"It speaks volumes that a unanimous court of Democratic and Republican appointees reaffirmed the constitutional right for a woman to make her own reproductive health care decisions without interference from the government," says a former state lawmaker who is now the director of Oklahoma's ACLU. The measure's backers say they plan to explore ways to get around the Supreme Court ruling to get the personhood proposal on the ballot. (More Oklahoma stories.)