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JACKSON, Mississippi, November 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After saying last Wednesday that Mississippi’s personhood amendment was “a little bit ambiguous” in defining person to include “every human being from the moment of fertilization,” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour cast his vote in favor of the amendment via an absentee ballot on Friday.

“I think all in all, I know I believe life begins at conception. So I think the right thing to do was to vote for it,” he said.

The governor’s decision to support the amendment was welcomed by the organization behind it.

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“Personhood USA congratulates Governor Barbour for making the correct decision in voting to protect the lives of the innocent,” said Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA.

“The babies that will be saved by Amendment 26 will live, grow up, and return to thank the Governor along with the overwhelming number of politicians, medical professionals, and citizens who have advocated for their right to live.”

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Earlier last week Barbour had told interviewers that he was in the process of making his decision about the measure.

On Wednesday, however, Planned Parenthood had teamed up with pro-abortion opponents of the personhood amendment and launched a campaign using clips from an interview with Barbour, urging the state’s residents to vote “no.”

Barbour shot back at the Planned Parenthood effort on Friday, after casting his vote, saying that the abortion organization’s campaign was deceptive.

“A pro-abortion group has called people’s homes and deceived voters into thinking I’m opposed to Initiative 26, the Personhood Amendment,” said Barbour. “As I’ve previously stated, I voted for the Personhood Amendment. These misleading calls were made without my knowledge, without my permission and against my wishes. I have demanded this deception be stopped, and those responsible have assured me that no more calls will be made.”

If passed by a majority of voters tomorrow, Amendment 26 will make Mississippi the first state to extend legal protection to babies in the womb since the infamous 1973 ruling of Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.

No matter what the pro-abortion side does, Mason believes that the people of Mississippi will not be “fooled.”

“These tactics will backfire on Planned Parenthood. The people of Mississippi are well-informed. They will hear that the Governor voted ‘Yes’ on the amendment, and see that Planned Parenthood is running ads implying that he did not. They understand which group deals in facts, and which is propagating lies.”

Preston Dunn, Jr., Founder and President of Personhood Arkansas, who is assisting the Mississippi personhood initiative, told LifeSiteNews that their sources indicate that the public favors the amendment in Mississippi by a ratio of about 20 to 1.