Earlier this month, Governor Bill Ritter announced his opposition to
Amendment 48 which seeks to grant a fertilized egg the status of a
human being, complete with equal rights. The groups pushing the
amendment advertise it as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the
Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, but it
targets far more than that. In fact, even those opposed to legal
abortion, like Ritter, have good reason to reject the proposal too.

The creators of Amendment 48 have been coy since the start. They
haven't fully explained the implications of their plan and with good
reason—it's extreme. Amendment 48, if passed, would undermine our
right to have a baby by establishing the legal groundwork to outlaw
IVF treatment. It threatens our right to plan a family by adding the
most commonly used forms of birth control alongside abortion to the
list of banned procedures. The state, under this proposal, could
intervene in a woman's life, even a woman with cancer and deny her
life saving medical treatment if it could endanger a fertilized egg.
This constitutional amendment is not about protecting life. Amendment
48 does nothing less than rob us of the ability to make many of life's
most important decisions.

The architects of the proposed amendment know this. The initiative's
sponsor Kristi Burton asserts, "As far as birth control, IVF and
abortion and all that, our amendment doesn't ban anything." But then
she slyly admits, "That would be up to the legislature and courts. If
our amendment passes and that's (a fertilized egg) considered a person
you'd have to view those issues in that way." Ms. Burton knows full
well that the only purpose to granting a fertilized egg full human
rights is to target the right to birth control, IVF and stem cell
research. If it were simply about targeting the right to an abortion,
then Amendment 48 would have attempted to define life as starting at
the moment a pregnancy begins and not before, as Amendment 48 does.

The groups supporting Amendment 48, as listed on the Personhood
Colorado website, represent the most extreme wing of the right to life
movement. These groups and individuals lead campaigns against
contraceptive access. They don't believe that individuals should
decide what's best for themselves according to their values. For
example, the American Life League hopes to ban contraception entirely
and this year led a campaign called "The Pill Kills." Its purpose was
to confuse the public into thinking the most common and effective
forms of birth control, like the birth control pill, cause abortion.
They held protests outside of family planning clinics nationwide
trying to convince Americans to stop using contraception. Another
backer, Human Life International, targets the poorest and most
desperate places on earth. In these distressed countries, it seeks to
block access to birth control and to de-fund relief agencies that
distribute contraception. The Pro-Life Action League, another
Amendment 48 supporter, held a conference several years ago entitled
"Contraception is Not the Answer." Many of the individuals signed on
in support of Amendment 48 are most famous for their
anti-contraception work and activities. Dr. David Hager is credited
with helping to block over-the-counter access to emergency
contraception. He led the FDA to ignore the advice of its own
scientists and for the first time in its history make a decision based
exclusively on ideology. Neil Noesen, another supporter, is a
Wisconsin-based pharmacist who made national news by denying a woman
her prescription for birth control and refusing to transfer it to a
nearby pharmacy that would fill it. Supporter Dr. William Colliton
published an article entitled "Birth Control Pill: Abortifacient and
Contraceptive" in which he said, "There is an unarguable logic
connecting the contraceptive act and the abortive act. They are both
anti-life."

Access to birth control options including emergency birth control is
the only proven way to reduce unintended pregnancy and abortion rates.
That's why even 80% of self-described "pro-life" Americans support
access to contraception.

Voters must know that Proposal 48 threatens much more than the right
to a safe and legal abortion. For women to achieve equality, they must
have access to birth control. We need to respect people's ability to
make their own life decisions and not impose our values and views upon
others. The extreme team assembled in support of Prop 48 knows its
hidden purpose and potential—and they are committed to making sure
that before Election Day you don't.