‘Personhood’ being adopted

Effort underway in other states to enact failed Colo. initiative

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

Monday, February 23, 2009

Following in the footsteps of a Colorado effort to define a fertilized egg as a person in the state constitution, a national pro-life movement is watching closely as seven different states have started similar efforts.

Five states — Maryland, North Dakota, Montana, South Carolina and Alabama — have introduced so-called personhood legislation, which establishes legal rights for humans from the moment of conception.

Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected a personhood ballot initiative last year. The measure received only 27 percent of the vote.

But a similar petition drive has started in Oregon. And Mississippi citizens are soon to start a personhood drive of their own, according to Personhood USA.

The measures and initiatives would essentially ban abortions in the seven states and challenge Roe v. Wade by setting a precedent for cases across the country.

The North Dakota House last week already backed its personhood measure, which now moves to the Senate for review.

Kristi Burton, the lead proponent for the Colorado initiative, said she has accomplished what she set out to do in the first place, which was raise awareness for personhood issues and inspire others to take up the cause.

“The Colorado personhood amendment got the truth out there that medical science supports that an unborn child is a person,” she said. “People across the nation started thinking more about that issue — it’s a pretty commonsense issue … Now, more states are getting it and realizing the truth.”

Opponents couldn’t disagree more. Not only do they disagree that a fertilized egg is immediately a person, but they raise ethical and legal concerns as well.

One of the biggest concerns to opponents is that personhood measures could turn doctors into criminals by performing in vitro fertilization procedures, prescribing birth control pills, or even conducting emergency procedures on pregnant women, such as if a fertilized egg becomes lodged in a woman’s fallopian tubes.

Two Colorado lawmakers last week introduced legislation that would prevent birth control from being banned after concerns were raised over Burton’s personhood amendment. Senate Bill 225 — sponsored by Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, and Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver — would add a legal definition of contraception to state law.

But personhood proponents say they are riding the wave of the “modern pro-life movement.”

Burton says she and a coalition of pro-life supporters will gather in the coming weeks to discuss plans for pro-life initiatives during the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Crystal Clinkenbeard, who was the spokeswoman for the opposition to the Colorado personhood initiative, said after the initiative was defeated that she hopes the pro-life crowd gets the message from Coloradans.

“It shows that defining a fertilized egg as a person is too extreme for Colorado and too extreme for the rest of the country,” she said at the time.

While Burton is disappointed that Coloradans so emphatically rejected the personhood initiative, she believes it gave new life to the pro-life movement.

“Our main goal was to get people talking about the issue, realizing the truth and raising a discussion,” she said. “We accomplished that.”

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