"Personhood" Amendment to Make Colorado Roe V. Wade Battleground

A proposed amendment to Colorado's constitution could potentially outlaw abortion, setting up a messy battle for this November's election.

Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman certified May 30 that Colorado for Equal Rights had collected 100,000 valid signatures in support of its "personhood amendment," much more than the 76,047 signatures required for a spot on the ballot.

Voters in November will now decide whether to pass the measure, which would define a "person" as any human being from the moment of fertilization. If approved, the measure - now known officially as Amendment 48 - could outlaw abortion in the state as well as birth control and a variety of medical procedures.

Pro-choice and anti-abortion organizations are already preparing for this fall's battle and are poised to pump lots of time and money into campaigns supporting their conflicting sides of the issue.

Opponents, including organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the League of Women's Voters, have formed the Protect Families Protect Choices Coalition to fight the measure. The group argues that defining a fertilized egg as a person could open the door for a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973.

The amendment could also outlaw certain forms of birth control - which work by preventing a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus - and procedures such as in-vitro fertilization.

"This amendment could make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape, incest, or when the life or health of a woman is at risk," said Toni Panetta, the group's spokesperson, in a press release. "Its backers are clear: their ultimate goal is overturning Roe v. Wade. Yet the amendment is worded so vaguely that its true effect is difficult to predict. It may encroach on everything from birth control, to stem cell research, to inheritance rights."

Working under the name Colorado for Equal Rights, proponents argue the measure is about equal rights but do admit they would like to lay the groundwork to ban abortion.

"All humans should be protected by love and by law, and this amendment is a historic effort to ensure equal rights for every person," Kristi Burton, the initiative's sponsor, said in a prepared statement.

While pro-choice groups have thrown their weight behind the opposition movement, though, the personhood amendment has divided the traditional anti-abortion ranks. America Right to Life has come out in support of the measure, as has former Republican presidential candidate and pro-life advocate Mike Huckabee.

But the Colorado Catholic Conference - usually a supporter of anti-abortion measures - has declined to advocate for it, saying it's not the right time for such an amendment.

"We encourage any and all efforts to eliminate or reduce attacks on the unborn, but we do not believe that this year's Colorado Personhood Amendment is the best means to pursue this issue at this time," the state's bishops said in a joint news release.

Colorado will vote on the issue Nov. 4.

SOURCES

Colorado for Equal Rights press release - http://www.coloradoforequalrights.com/

Colorado Catholic Conference press release -

http://www.cocatholicconference.org/content/view/131/11/

Protect Families Protect Choice press release -

http://www.protectfamiliesprotectchoice.org/index.php?view=article&catid=53%3Apress-releases&id=93%3Aburton-amendment-dangerous&option=com_content&Itemid=63