The practice of polygamy led to opposition to the LDS Church and the enacting of anti-polygamy laws in the United States. (The U.S. Congress made the practice illegal in U.S. territories in 1862.) Many members of the church fled to Canada or Mexico in an attempt to set up communities free from prosecution. Although Latter-day Saints believed that plural marriage was protected by the United States Constitution as a religious practice, opponents used it to delay Utah statehood until 1896. Increasingly harsh anti-polygamy legislation stripped church members of their rights as citizens, revoked the right to vote for LDS women, disincorporated the Church, and permitted the seizure of church property until the church formally discontinued the practice with the 1890 Manifesto.