Virginia lawmakers halt anti-abortion personhood bill PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (Reuters) - Virginia lawmakers on Thursday shelved until next year a measure ultimately aimed at outlawing abortion by granting individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception. The state Senate voted 24-14 to send the so-called "personhood" bill back to a committee to be taken up again in 2013. The move effectively killed the bill for this year. Reporting By Matthew A. Ward; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Dan Burns