ATLANTA — A showdown is shaping up in some of the nation’s most conservative states over embryonic stem-cell research, as opponents draw language and tactics from the battle over abortion to counter President Barack Obama’s plan to ease research restrictions.
Legislation granting fertilized embryos “personhood” has gained momentum in at least three state legislatures — Georgia, Montana and North Dakota.
The strategy — which has been used to try to undermine the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion — is now aimed at embryonic stem-cell research.
Opposition to both abortion and stem-cell research hinges on the same issue: When does life begin? As a result, embryonic stem-cell research has become the latest front in the decades-old battle over abortion.
