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Amendment Defining Human Life Likely Headed for Ballot Last Edited: Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 9:42 PM MDT Created: Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 9:41 PM MDT The group Colorado for Equal Rights celebrates after turning in enough signatures to place the "Personhood Amendment" on November's ballot. May 13, 2008. by TAMMY VIGIL, Reporter DENVER (MyFOXColorado.com) - A proposed constitutional amendment could make Colorado a national battleground on the issue of abortion. Tuesday, a victory of sorts for a group pushing an amendment that would define a fertilized egg as a person. Colorado for Equal Rights turned in 37 boxes and 131,245 signatures it needs to place the "Personhood Amendment" on November's ballot. It needed to turn in just over 76,000 signatures. "We had over 1,100 volunteers around the state. We covered over 500 churches," says amendment sponsor, Kristi Burton. "We believe the Colorado Constitution was created to protect every person. So, the question we're asking is--who is a person?" says Burton. Opponents to the measure have surprisingly similar views about the purpose of the Constitution. "Colorado's Constitution was created to protect us, rather than deny health care access to anyone in Colorado," says Toni Panette, spokesperson for Protect Families Protext Choice coalition. That group says defining life in the Constitution could lay the groundwork to overturn Roe v. Wade and inviting government intrusion into private medical decisions. I don't think the definition of a person is a personal decision. That is a scientific definition," says Burton. The 20-year-old says medical technology clearly shows an unborn child is a person. "There's 4-D ultrasounds. There's incredible medical evidence that an unborn child is a person," says Burton. But FOX 31's doctor John Torres says from a medical perspective a pregnancy does not automatically mean a human will be born. "Technology today in 2008 hasn't gotten to the point that we can sustain life outside the womb any earlier than 20 weeks," he says. Regardless, amendment supporters say their beliefs are strong. And so is their battle to protect what they see as a person, no matter how small. Opponents say the amendment could also ban the most popular forms of birth control, and affect stem cell research and inheritance rights. The Secretary of State's Office has up to 30 days to certify the petitions. Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn