Mr Allen, a long-established friend of the National Rifle Association, suggested that he too would support new forms of gun control.

ECONOMIST: Politics in Virginia: Robb’s last stand? | The

The amendment would grant full legal protection to embryos and foetuses and could outlaw some forms of birth control, stem-cell research and possibly in vitro fertilisation.

BBC: North Dakota introduces toughest abortion law in US

In 1968, Pope Paul VI, in an encyclical entitled "Humanae Vitae" (Of Human Life), declared that any artificial forms of birth control were prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church.

CNN: Wednesday,