COLORADO VOTERS REJECT “PERSONHOOD” INITIATIVE
Colorado made election news headlines on Nov. 5 – and not just because it was a battleground in the presidential race. For the first time in U.S. history – but probably not the last – voters were asked to give constitutional and legal rights to fertilized eggs. They refused.
- By a three-to-one margin, Colorado voters rejected the proposed Amendment 48 ballot initiative.
- It was a so-called “personhood” strategy designed by anti-birth control extremists to draw legal challenges that could allow the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade. .
“Personhood” initiatives threaten access to birth control, quality health care and family privacy, and create a legal nightmare.
They threaten in vitro fertilization, stem cell research, common forms of birth control, and access to emergency contraception used by many rape and incest victims.
- "personhood" measures could ban widely-used forms of birth control like the IUD and forms of the Pill that work by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.
- Emergency Contraception, which is effective up to 72 hours after intercourse and is used widely by rape and incest victims, could be banned for the same reason.
- In vitro fertilization could be banned since fertilized eggs created in this process would have full legal rights.
- Embryonic stem cell research, which is leading toward cures for chronic diseases and disabilities, could be banned under Amendment 48.
- Any woman with a serious illness, such as cancer, could be denied access to life-saving medical treatment because it could endanger a fertilized egg.
The language of the proposed amendment usually appears to be simple: it defines the term “person” as “any human being from the moment of fertilization.”
- The Colorado Gynecological-Obstetrical Society, a member of the No on 48 Coalition called Protect Families Protect Choices, points out that the moment of fertilization is not the medical definition of pregnancy, and that the amendment’s passage would endanger the health of Colorado women.
- The medical definition of pregnancy is the moment a fertilized egg implants in the uterus. Only that event triggers the hormonal, physical and other changes that enable the fertilized egg to draw nourishment from the mother’s body.
- The moment of fertilization is unknowable – only implanted eggs trigger bodily changes.
- An October 13 New York Times editorial calls Amendment 48 a “preposterous measure.”
The Colorado Bar Association opposes Amendment 48 because it would clog the courts with unnecessary and time-consuming litigation.
The decisive defeat of Colorado's Amendment 48, with 73% of voters rejecting the proposal to grant fertilized eggs constitutional rights, can only be described as a public rebuke of the anti-choice movement's strategy to undermine Roe v Wade.
Yet, on the heels of such a clear rejection by the electorate, the architects of Amendment 48 have announced that they plan to take this strategy nationwide. To commence the nationwide effort that will target the 17 states that allow ballot measures, the group has repackaged itself under the new name "Personhood USA."
Their extreme strategy seeks to lay the groundwork for banning much more than abortion but also the most common and effective forms of birth control, IVF treatment and stem cell research.
The American Life League, which sunk over $200,000 into Amendment 48 in the final days before the election, has thrown its support behind Personhood USA's plan to expand the unpopular and failed strategy to 17 states.
Organization Opposing the Initiative: Protect Families, Protect Choices
Organization Supporting the Initiative: Colorado for Equal Rights
Click here for more videos on the Colorado Voter Referendum that would give full constitutional and legal rights to fertilized eggs.
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