Tumi: Miss. votes on defining life, picks new governor

David Yarbrough wheels a voting machine into Airport Grocery near Oxford, Miss. on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011. Mississippians go to the polls on Tuesday for state and local elections, as well as referendums including the so-called Personhood Amendment. (AP Photo/Oxford Eagle, Bruce Newman)

FILE-In this Nov. 2, 2011, file photo, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant speaks before the Mississippi Economic Council's Hobnob Mississippi gathering in Jackson, Miss. Bryant faces his main opponent Democrat Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree in Tuesday's election. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2011 file photo, Democratic candidate for governor Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, address business leaders at the Mississippi Economic Council's Hobnob Mississippi gathering in Jackson, Miss. DuPree main opponent in Tuesday's election is Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) ? Mississippians are voting on a measure that could prompt a new national fight over abortion by declaring that life begins at fertilization.

It's one of three state constitutional amendments on the ballot Tuesday. Voters will also pick a governor to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Haley Barbour.

The initiative to define life is an effort by the so-called personhood movement, which wants to put similar measures on other state ballots in 2012.

If approved, supporters say it could prompt a court challenge seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established a legal right to abortion.

The initiative is endorsed by both candidates in the governor's race, Republican Phil Bryant and Democrat Johnny Dupree.

Another ballot initiative would require voters to show government-issued identification.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-11-08-Mississippi%20Elections/id-50080e7e304c4a41b7c5f30d68dbebba

peru earthquake peru earthquake big 12 last minute halloween costumes rum diary klipsch image s4 chris bosh