Associated Press - February 17, 2010 8:04 AM ET

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Abortion opponents who want life defined in Mississippi as beginning at fertilization have filed an initiative petition with the secretary of state's office to get the issue on a statewide ballot.

Personhood Mississippi, led by Les Riely of Pontotoc, delivered petitions with signatures of 105,167 people on Tuesday.

The group's goal is to extend rights to fetuses and stop abortion in Mississippi. Similar efforts have been under way in several other states, including Colorado, Florida, Montana and Nevada.

For an initiative measure to be placed on the ballot, a minimum of 89,285 certified signatures must be gathered, with at least 17,857 certified signatures from each of the five congressional districts as they existed in the year 2000.

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