Oklahoma Supreme Court Unanimously Blocks Embryonic Personhood Initiative

ACLU press release: Unanimous Oklahoma Supreme Court Blocks Dangerous “Personhood” Initiative:

The Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously struck down a proposed ballot initiative that would have banned vital health services by granting fertilized eggs and embryos the same constitutional rights as people. The justices ruled that the initiative was unconstitutional in light of the previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld the right to have an abortion.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit last month on behalf of six Oklahoma voters. If passed, the initiative would have outlawed many critical reproductive health services, including all abortion care, commonly used forms of birth control, in vitro fertilization and treatment for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. . . .