State to vote on hot topic 'personhood'
Amendment 48 defines person as fertilized egg
August 16, 2008
By Ted Holteen | Herald Staff Writer
Colorado voters will be presented with 19 different ballot initiatives in 
November, but it's likely none of them will be as hotly debated as Amendment 
48, popularly known as the "personhood" amendment.
Proponents of Amendment 48 want the state Constitution to define a person as 
a zygote, or fertilized egg. A petition drive in May collected 103,000 
validated signatures, nearly 30,000 more than the 76,000 signatures required 
to put an initiative on the ballot.
But, opponents of Amendment 48 believe that the proposed definition of 
personhood would have numerous consequences that could result in years of 
courtroom battles and restrict the rights of pregnant women. It would also, 
by definition, make abortion illegal.
"It goes way too far," said Fofi Mendez, a partner in the Denver political 
consulting firm Mendez Steadman & Associates, who is campaign director for 
the "No on 48" campaign. Mendez and representatives from Planned Parenthood 
of the Rocky Mountains were in Durango on Thursday as part of the statewide 
campaign.
"We're talking about government interference in our personal lives applying 
to inalienable rights, due process and equal justice. This could impact 
thousands of laws," Mendez said.
Mendez and other opponents say that granting the same rights to a fertilized 
egg as to the mother carrying the zygote could mean the end of stem-cell 
research and in vitro fertilization, because the fertilized eggs used in 
those processes would have full legal rights. They also claim it could be 
used to prohibit some medical treatments, especially cancer treatments, if 
radiation or chemotherapy may harm a fertilized egg.
Amendment 48 was the brainchild of Peyton resident Kristi Burton, who is the 
founder of the pro-life organization Colorado for Equal Rights. In Southwest 
Colorado, the petition drive was headed by the group Lifeguard, and its 
executive director, Michaela Dasteel, downplayed the opponents' concerns.
"Is it too far-reaching? How is restoring dignity and respect to all human 
beings too far-reaching?" Dasteel said.
"I trust that in a democracy that when we amend the Constitution to define 
personhood at the point of creation that the laws that are passed to 
coincide with the Constitution be done with justice and mercy and not be 
Draconian. I can't see our state legislators passing a law that every woman 
who loses a pregnancy be investigated for criminal activity."
Because the amendment would outlaw abortion, critics claim any pregnancy 
that ended short of a healthy birth could be interpreted as a homicide. It 
would also mean that Colorado law would stand in direct opposition to the 
landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 
the United States. For Vicki Cowart, president and chief executive officer 
of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Amendment 48 is a national 
embarrassment.
"It's so extreme and so deceptive that people say 'that's not what they 
meant' - but it's exactly what they meant," Cowart said of Colorado for 
Equal Rights' efforts to outlaw abortion in Colorado.
"This is a concerted national effort, and they tried in Georgia and Montana 
and some other states but it didn't get on the ballot. We drew the short 
stick," Cowart said.
Burton could not be reached for comment, but Dasteel said there is no 
deception at all, and she's not aware of any supporters of Amendment 48 who 
don't want to see it lead to the end of abortion in Colorado and elsewhere. 
She compared Roe vs. Wade to another historic Supreme Court ruling, the 1857 
Dred Scott case, which temporarily upheld the antiquated decision that 
slaves of African descent were not considered people under federal law.
"It was overturned because it was based on a premise that people weren't 
defined as human beings," Dasteel said.
"That led to not only the end of slavery, but the end of a way of life in 
the South that was based on slavery."
Amendment 48 is just that - an amendment - and if passed, the law will 
become a permanent part of the Colorado Constitution. Cowart said that means 
that no one, including the governor and members of the Colorado Legislature, 
could ever overturn the law and state attorneys could spend years or decades 
and countless millions of dollars defending the Colorado law against federal 
law whether they believe in it or not.
"It's ridiculous, it's absurd - choose a word - but once it's done it can't 
be undone," Cowart said.
Tara Friedman, who works under Cowart as the major gifts officer for Planned 
Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said many absurd scenarios will be 
brought up during the next several months as debate continues about 
Amendment 48, but the issue at hand is no laughing matter.
"I've heard people joke that this means a pregnant woman could drive in the 
carpool lane because now there would be two people in the car," Friedman 
said.
"But it's not funny."

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
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