The Blog of the Coalition for Secular Government

Friday, July 11, 2008

Amendment 48
By Diana Hsieh @ 1:01 AM PermaLink

In the November 2008 election, Colorado voters will be able to vote on a proposed "Definition of a Person" amendment to the Colorado constitution. The amendment is as follows:
Amendment 48

Definition of Person

Ballot Title: An amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term "person" to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as "person" is used in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law.

Text of Proposal:

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read:

Section 31. Person defined. AS USED IN SECTIONS 3, 6, AND 25 OF ARTICLE II OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION, THE TERMS "PERSON" OR "PERSONS" SHALL INCLUDE ANY HUMAN BEING FROM THE MOMENT OF FERTILIZATION.
This amendment was approved for the ballot on May 29th, 2008 with 103,377 valid signatures. (76,047 signatures were needed.)

If approved, this amendment would outlaw all abortions whatsoever -- even when the mother's life is at risk. It would outlaw any form of birth control which prevents implantation of a fertilized egg, such as the pill. It would imperil in vitro fertilization, because extra frozen embryos would be considered persons with full legal rights, including inheritance rights (!).

Significantly, the advocates of this amendment such as Colorado Right to Life and Colorado for Equal Rights offer no secular justification for their views. They defend this amendment on the grounds that abortion is contrary to God's law, as is evident from their liberal quoting of scripture.

The Coalition for Secular Government opposes this amendment -- and we will fight it vigorously between now and the election. To force the people of Colorado -- whatever their religious views -- to live by the dictates of Christian scripture violates every person's freedom of religion. To base laws on religious dogma rather than on secular, reality-based principles of individual rights violates the principle of separation of church and state.

A woman has an inalienable right to control her own reproductive functions by whatever means she chooses, including by abortion, birth control, and in vitro fertilization. Embryos and fetuses are not persons; they are not biologically independent creatures but encased within and wholly dependent on the woman. To grant them legal rights would flagrantly violate a woman's liberty rights over her own body.

The preservation of reproductive rights and secular government in Colorado depends on Colorado voters sending a clear message to the theocrats in November: "No, NO, HELL NO on 48."

Postscript

Thanks to the good sense of Colorado voters and the hard work of all who opposed it, Amendment 48 was defeated resoundingly: a whopping 73% against and just 27% in favor. Hooray! Thank you, Colorado!

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Comments on "Amendment 48"
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 16:08:01 mst
Comment ID: #1
Name: Daniel

Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Though among women and blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen


Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 15:34:51 mst
Comment ID: #2
Name: Kelly
E-mail: blah(at)blah.com

Hey Daniel, shut the fuck up. GOD ISN'T REAL and neither is Mary.


Friday, August 8, 2008 at 17:23:56 mst
Comment ID: #3
Name: Greg

What people need to figure out is that God, real or not personally I say real, has no place in Government and politics, religious views should not be the basis of making law. Law is moral code, but it should not be moral code that is derived from religion especially since this country is full of people who are of different religious and spiritual beliefs.


Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 22:31:28 mst
Comment ID: #4
Name: AtheistVoices
E-mail: scott(at)atheistvoices.com
URL: http://atheistvoices.com

The world would be such a nicer place if the parents of the authors of this bill had practiced "safer sex" or abstinence. I personally do not like abortions therefore I shall never have one (being a man that isn't difficult), but certainly am not in a position to tell anyone that is pregnant what they can do with their own bodies.


Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 20:37:03 mst
Comment ID: #5
Name: Kate Vittini

Amendment 48 would cripple women in the state of Colorado, and force us to once again become slaves to a system we have been liberated from since 1973. Furthermore, if you really want to see less abortion, pass laws that make it easier to access birth control. Abstinence results in unprotected sex and teen pregnancy and STD's. We can no longer function as a society with this as one of our primary birth control methods. We must mature, and realize that its time to change our perspective on sex. Vote no on 48.


Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 7:01:37 mst
Comment ID: #6
Name: Haliburton Condi "Chevron" Bushworthy
E-mail: haliburton(at)mail.georgewbush.is.a.tool.dot.org
URL: http://georgewbush.is.a.tool.dot.org/

I'm looking forward to the first murder investigation into the disappearance of a zygote. Women of reproductive age will have to check in regularly to be screened for pregnancy hormones! FFS! And then what happens if a pregnancy is detected? Will they be quarantined in a concentration camp until they've had their babies?

These "conservative interests" should spend their resources saving our young adults from being blown to bits in Iraq and elsewhere. Do they not have a right to life? How about inner city kids condemned at birth to a life of drug abuse, violence, poverty, hunger, poor education, ignorance, prostitution, disease, and so on? What about them, people!? Screw the living! Save a zygote!


Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 7:33:11 mst
Comment ID: #7
Name: Newt "Newtie" Gingrich
E-mail: newt(at)amphibians.org
URL: http://amphibians.org/

At long last, the age-old question is answered. In fact, the question is a trick one. Neither the chicken nor the egg came first. They are one and the same! Brilliant! You haven't been eating eggs all these years (assuming you eat what we call 'eggs'). You've been eating chickens! I'll have some scrambled chickens, please! Ovo-lacto vegetarians can no longer eat 'eggs'! OMG!


Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 13:56:10 mst
Comment ID: #8
Name: Celina
E-mail: celinafiggs(at)yahoo.com

Mothers make choices for their children legally until they are 18. Maybe this is the first choice the mother will make. Who are we to judge if someone is ready to have a child. This amendment will stifle women's rights once more.


Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 10:10:54 mst
Comment ID: #9
Name: ra
E-mail: peakascent(at)hotmail.com

This is not a religious issue but an issue of basic human rights. Before the 20th century women were considered property, slaves were property, certain ethnic groups also did not have basic human rights and could be sold or killed with impunity. We have been fighting for the last century or longer for basic human rights for all individuals. If we define a person as someone independent of others then the mentally retarded, elderly, disabled might also fit into the category of those whom someone should have the "right" to kill. Abortion is the killing of a most innocent life by the very person who should be most involved in protecting that life, the mother. It is the abortion doctors who should "get your hands out of my womb" as they cut up and suck out the remains of a living human being. It is too bad that more people do not turn their energies towards saving lives rather then defending the killing of innocent babies. Shame on those who defend the killing of the innocents. There should be no such legal issue as a "right to kill". This is absurd and if it continues makes all basic human rights worth nothing.


Friday, September 12, 2008 at 8:31:08 mst
Comment ID: #10
Name: nicoel
E-mail: lilgigglesnicky(at)yahoo.copm

Ra, i see your point but this ammendment would ban all forms of birth control and you have to remember that alot of women take birth control for other reasons than just to stop getting pregnant. and what about women who are the victims of rape and incest? they did not choose to have sex and get pregnant so wouldnt we be just as bad as the rapist because we would be forcing them to go through with the pregnancy? and what about women who have serious medical conditions, lets say you had sex and an egg became fertalized and you found out you had cancer. you could not be treated because the fertilized egg even before development had begun would be considered a person. you would constantly and helplessly be in pain. you and the baby would probably die. with passing this amendment the government would be telling the woman she does not have any rights to her own body, an egg would have more rights than a woman. can you imagine all the dumpster babies and back alley abortions there would be? could you imagine the number of suicides from young girls getting pregnant or rape victims? banning abortion and birth control is not the way to save lives, in fact its exactly the opposite.


Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 10:58:36 mst
Comment ID: #11
Name: Tim
E-mail: whah_a_stupid_arguement(at)this_is.com

I can't even believe this is an issue. It seems like half of americans are trying to move forward with civil rights and the other half are trying to move back to the dark ages. The very idea of giving an egg more rights then the mother its dependent on is ridiculous. What's next? Banning menstrual cycles? It seems obvious that after this we'll ban condoms, and then we'll ban pulling out, and then we'll ban waiting until certain times of a cycle to have sex, until finally, we've passed a law against male masturbation! Yeah, well TRY AND STOP ME AH HA HA! Be rational people, and realize what kind of an age this would usher; one of home abortions and 11-toed incest babies. Honestly... DUH, NO NO NO FUCKING WAY ON 48!!!!


Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 14:45:56 mst
Comment ID: #12
Name: Dave

Strange question for supporters of this bill. If a women found herself pregnant and decided to abort, what's to stop her from driving to the next state over, having an abortion and coming back? First of all, proving this was the case would involve interstate cooperation and would violate doctor/patient confidentiality. Next, if abortion isn't banned in the state she went to, she hasn't committed a crime in their eyes. I'm failing to see how this makes things better. Even if it was a federal law, women who could afford to leave the country could still have abortions. Isn't that discriminating against poor people? So much for equality.


Friday, September 19, 2008 at 17:26:51 mst
Comment ID: #13
Name: Ralph
E-mail: Ralph8989

The leader of this movement is Bob Enyart. He is on the radio in Denver and he was the main person behind this bill. He loves to protest. I say we reverse the role and protest him. He lives in Arvada, Colorado. Get people together and protest in front of his home. This guy has a dirty past:

He's on his third marriage
He committed adultery on both his former wives
He was seeing a prostitute while married with children
After caught with a prostitute, he continued seeing her
He has been convicted of child abuse. He beat his girlfriends son (he's now married to her)
He frequented strip bars while married with children

http://www.westword.com/1999-12-16/news/thank-god-for-bob/

Go to his house with protest signs that call him out on his adultery.
"Bob is an adulterer"
"Bob is a child abuser"
"Bob loves to commit adultery"

Call this guy out for who he really is.


Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 20:44:09 mst
Comment ID: #14
Name: mel

The question I have is why do people think that women will stop having abortions because it is against the law? Are the right to lifer's so naive as to believe they will stop women from having abortions? Get real and do a little research. Women have practiced the right to choose long before there was ever Rowe vs. Wade and will continue to do so with or without this amendment. Not allowing women to take birth control pills is about the most insane thing I've heard since learning that people are still protesting a women's right to chose. Personally, I come from a very fertile group of women. Although I realize I am very lucky to have the ability to reproduce, I certainly do not want to have six children like my mother and grandmother. I couldn't support six children. Or should I just spend the rest of my life dependent on food stamps barefoot and pregnant. If it wasn't for birth control pills, that's probably the future I'd be looking at. But somehow being a responsible adult, i.e. not having a bunch of kids I can't support is somehow against god's will? That's a bunch of freeze dried bullshit. Me and God, we're alright. Do we really need women having abortions in some back ally with a coat hanger? Why is this really an issue? Does it really matter that your next door neighbor is having an abortion, if in a month you won't have a house to live in? Or if you get cancer you may not be able to pay for the medical treatments (and maybe stem cell research could have saved your life)? Or that most people in this country don't have any retirement funds because they've spent it all on their kid's college education? Or that our country is still at war and no one knows why? And finally, if the polar caps keep melting and the environment goes to shit (which it undoubtedly will and is) mother nature will make the final decision on the right to life for us all. Shouldn't we all be working towards a more secure future for the children that are here and now?


Friday, September 26, 2008 at 14:31:46 mst
Comment ID: #15
Name: k8 jones
E-mail: k8rahbirtz(at)Hotmail.com

i don't get people using the "God" card for 48 (I mean I know that's what it's based off of)...if we are "sinners" for disagreeing with 48 then let US worry about our punishment from "God", let us go to "Hell"....don't worry about us, you just worry about putting enough money in those collection trays for a good merlot to sip during communion. who are you as a government, as a man/woman, Christian/non-Christian, affluent or poor, to tell me what to do with my body...HOW DARE YOU. and further, many of the people who are for 48 are those same people who are against gov't/state welfare and assistance programs. let me tell you that if 48 passes there are going to be a whole hell of a lot more children born into the system--A LOT. so what's the plan then to take care of all the unwanted children? those who are born into abuse or incest? that's a lot more money that many of you are not willing to pay and it will never end. COLORADO ALREADY HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATES OF CHILDREN IN POVERTY IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE NATION, NO SHITTING YOU--HERE IN OUR BEAUTIFUL STATE! ITS SHAMEFUL THAT WE'VE LET IT GO THIS FAR AND IT WILL GET NO BETTER WITH 48. thanx for reading...


Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 18:01:05 mst
Comment ID: #16
Name: Michelle
E-mail: karm16(at)msn.com

How can these people who want to pass this bill feel so strong about a tiny 50/50 chance of actually turning out to be a baby not care for a living woman with her life on the line from a fertilized egg that can/cant make it to actually become a baby. Its unreal to think that you care so much for a "What if it makes it" over a woman who is here on earth with among us! It really hurts and I dont belive that abortion is the answer to a form of birth controll but women have fought hard for the rights we have today and to take that away for a what if it could make it and become a living child in 9 months is crazy. That is saying we should morn every period we have because it could have been a fertilized egg that passed and thats another life lost that we never even knew existed. To take away birth controll at this time when people are loosing there jobs and homes is just crazy! I used to think this bill was great and that every pregnant women really does have a human being inside here but all the crazy things that come with this bill is just nuts! I cant get over the fact that people pretend to care that much about something they never met over the woman you just met at the bank! Not this really matters to anyone else but I got it off my chest.


Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 18:04:53 mst
Comment ID: #17
Name: Michelle
E-mail: karm16(at)msn.com

How can these people who want to pass this bill feel so strong about a tiny 50/50 chance of actually turning out to be a baby not care for a living woman with her life on the line from a fertilized egg that can/cant make it to actually become a baby. Its unreal to think that you care so much for a "What if it makes it" over a woman who is here on earth with among us! It really hurts and I dont belive that abortion is the answer to a form of birth controll but women have fought hard for the rights we have today and to take that away for a what if it could make it and become a living child in 9 months is crazy. That is saying we should morn every period we have because it could have been a fertilized egg that passed and thats another life lost that we never even knew existed. To take away birth controll at this time when people are loosing there jobs and homes is just crazy! I used to think this bill was great and that every pregnant women really does have a human being inside here but all the crazy things that come with this bill is just nuts! I cant get over the fact that people pretend to care that much about something they never met over the woman you just met at the bank! Not this really matters to anyone else but I got it off my chest.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 2:00:01 mst
Comment ID: #18
Name: jared

There is no need for fussing; something this restrictive is very unlikely to pass -- especially in Colorado.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 6:21:42 mst
Comment ID: #19
Name: Diana Hsieh
E-mail: diana(at)seculargovernment.us
URL: http://www.seculargovernment.us

Jared -- A48 was polling at 35% in June. If it get anything close to that at the polls, then it will reappear in Colorado again and again. It will crop up in other states. The religious right could well attempt a slightly less draconian version -- as has happened in South Dakota.

Defeating A48 is not just about preventing the measure from passing this time around. It's about sending a very large rebuke to the religious right theocrats who want to base Colorado law on their interpretation of God's commands.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 11:25:19 mst
Comment ID: #20
Name: Xavier
E-mail: xavier(at)xw11.demon.co.uk

If the legal definition of life does not require the presence of an operational brain, what is the definition of death?

If this amendment went through, an embryo would have to be declared legally dead the moment it became 'alive' (and thereby losing all the rights that this law is supposed to give it.)

If the definition of death were to be altered to fit with the amendment, how could a foetus be considered to be dead if it was ancephalic (a severe neural tube defect that causes no brain at all to develop - usually such a foetus is spontaneously aborted before it could be considered alive by any rational definition but in some cases there is enough of development for the foetus to come to term leading to an especially traumatic delivery for all concerned.) Indeed, what definition for life and death could include a single celled embryo, a fully grown human, all differently abled humans, sleeping humans, coma patients and patients on heart bypass but exclude skin cells, miscarried foetuses, chimanzees and of course corpses.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 20:37:27 mst
Comment ID: #21
Name: Xavier
E-mail: xavier(at)xw11.demon.co.uk

Never mind. I am not making much sense. The proposed law is too broad and hence open to interpretation. Either way, abortion of a foetus is the number one type of murder in the U.S. Something to think about whether you are for it or not. Not sure why some people have outcries over baby seals being beaten to death but seem to have no problems with abortion. Are they okay with the idea of cutting a baby seal limb by limb out of the uterus of its mother while its alive and feeling every single cut shoot through its spine and cause incredible pain??? Double standards...how did we get to the point where we no longer value and respect human life?


Friday, October 3, 2008 at 11:58:41 mst
Comment ID: #22
Name: Tess

I'm quite concerned about this issue as well. One thing that I've not seen brought up yet, is the case of the ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy where the fertilized egg attaches outside the uterus - typically in the fallopian tubes). In these cases, a woman typically presents with abdominal pain and may or may not have had a positive pregnancy test. The woman is at high danger or hemorrhage and death if the fertilized egg is not surgically removed. Does this proposed amendment doom that woman to death, by refusing her the right to medical attention and removal of the embryo/zygote? This is a horrible fate to force upon a woman, no matter what your feeling on abortion. I wonder if the proponents of this bill don't mind a woman - possibly a mother to other, living children - dying in order to save an egg.


Friday, October 3, 2008 at 21:56:03 mst
Comment ID: #23
Name: Diana Hsieh
E-mail: diana(at)seculargovernment.us
URL: http://www.seculargovernment.us

Tess -- You're absolutely right to be concerned about delays in treatment in cases of ectopic pregnancy.

For example, some "pro-lifers" do argue against any abortion, even when a fetus is not viable, as in this essay by "The Association of Pro-Life Physicians":

http://www.prolifephysicians.org/rarecases.htm

They do allow some wiggle room at the end of the essay for ectopic pregnancy, but the fact is that delay in treatment would result in very serious harm and injury to the pregnant woman. Once the fallopian tube ruptures -- and doctors cannot say when that will happen -- the woman is in very serious danger of dying very quickly due to internal bleeding. To wait means to roll the dice -- all for the sake of a non-viable embryo.

Moreover, Nicaragua recently instituted a total ban on abortion. Even though the government issued guidelines saying that physicians should treat ectopic pregnancy, many are afraid to do so for fear of prosecution. Women have been denied necessary medical care as a result. For the details, see the report by Human Rights Watch:

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/nicaragua1007/

We discuss these issues in our paper: "Amendment 48 Is Anti-Life: Why It Matters That a Fertilized Egg Is Not a Person." You can download it at:

http://www.seculargovernment.us/docs/a48.pdf


Monday, October 6, 2008 at 16:44:19 mst
Comment ID: #24
Name: Louise

This is just another symptom of the religious right marching its way across our country destroying the rights everyone has worked so hard for. What century are we living in?? In response to Xavier: I love how you and all the other anti-choice zealots only talk about abortion in the sense that it's a full grown baby. Very few abortions are performed late in the pregnancy (third trimester or even late second trimester), unless the mother's life is in danger as a result of the pregnancy. Get for real. Also, who is going to pay for all these unwanted babies? The same people who oppose my right to choice are the ones who also oppose tax funded welfare programs. The answer isn't banning abortion, people will still have abortions, only this time it will be in hotel rooms with coat hangers, and more women will die as a result. Although, I know a lot of them say that if you're trying to "murder your baby" you deserve to die anyway. It's just sick. The answer is easier access to birth control and better sex education for our kids and teenagers. Get your heads out of your bibles and use some common sense! I wonder how many of these people are pro-death penalty too. Protect an egg, kill a person.


Monday, October 6, 2008 at 21:41:08 mst
Comment ID: #25
Name: Ipo
E-mail: ipovogel(at)yahoo.com

Ok people, wake up. If I kill a woman who is pregnant, I am charged with two murders. Can you tell me why if she aborts the child the day before I am charged with one, and no on is charged with the other? Do some math, it doesn't add up. Pregnancy begins when the fertalized egg first attachs itself to the uterus by defnition. Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more offspring, in humans, we call this offspring "children". I see people argue that making abortion illegal will cause many women suffering from having to care for a unwanted child, is it right for the child to never be given a right to live, just so you can be happy? Grow up and get over yourselves. Sea turtle eggs are protected under the fact that "it will become sea turtle life", if none of you know, only one in every hundred sea turtles live to see adulthood, yet the eggs are protected. Fertilized human eggs have a much higher chance to grow into adulthood, are these people not as important as sea turtles? Sorry, but I find "pro-choice" ridiculous and sickening. I am not religious in the least, I am in fact a athiest, but I can notice something when the facts are laid out. Unborn children are still human life.


Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 15:20:07 mst
Comment ID: #26
Name: jared
E-mail: jarednbuckner(at)yahoo.com

Wait, doesn't the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade prohibit the States from passing such laws and constitutional amendments constraining abortions in any of the trimesters, but especially the first? How are they able to do that? I thought Roe v. Wade coupled with Doe v. Bolton was the ultimate safe-guard against this kind of legislation. Doesn't the U.S. Supreme Court have precedence over State legislature, or is this checks and balances? Can someone help me on these?


Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 17:43:39 mst
Comment ID: #27
Name: Diana Hsieh
E-mail: diana(at)seculargovernment.us
URL: http://www.seculargovernment.us

Jared -- It's true that Roe has precedence, meaning that Amendment 48 couldn't be fully implemented if passed. However, (1) McCain and Palin and the GOP seek to overturn Roe, (2) Amendment 48 could be the basis for such a challenge, (3) if Amendment 48 does well (even if it doesn't pass) in a purple state like Colorado, we might well see a push for a federal constitutional amendment that would automatically override Roe.


Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:39:56 mst
Comment ID: #28
Name: CherBear
E-mail: cheryn.lindley(at)comcast.net

I am a mother of a child with special needs in Colorado. I would like to share our story as a real-life example of why it is ABSURD to pass amendment 48. My son has a very rare genetic disorder which has caused him severe medical challenges and global developmental delays. He will likely need life-long care; care which will cost Colorado tax-payers tens of thousands of dollars over his lifetime. I am a carrier for this genetic disorder, which means that I have a very high likelihood of having other children with this same genetic defect. I currently have an IUD, a form of birth control which would be illegal if this law should pass. So, with the passage of this amendment I would be unable to use birth control, and unable to terminate any pregnancy that would result in another child with severe disabilities. I would be left with few choices…to have my tubes tied, which sounds a lot like state mandated sterilization, or to have more children with severe disabilities which will ultimately end up a strain on Colorado’s already limited resources. How absurd! Amendment 48 is a huge step backward for Colorado and for women everywhere!


Monday, October 13, 2008 at 18:14:33 mst
Comment ID: #29
Name: RM
E-mail: rlmspecialty(at)yahoo.com

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!! If this goes through, we are going to see more deaths in women. Women or teenagers will find a way to have an abortion if they choose do to so. Some will drive to a state where it is legal, others will go to an underground clinic and others will try to abort themselves....like they did a long time ago, using coat hangers, ect. We are sexual beings and this is a common practice in life. Forbidding someone to use birth control is absolutly stupid. Ok, you think we have a problem with welfare now? If this goes through, we will have most of the State of Colorado on welfare. Our tax dollars are going to go to help welfare people, because they are now having children they can not afford, we this stupid amendment went through. Please, vote NO on this. It is our right as women to decide if we want to be on birth control and have an abortion, not the government's (or a few 1,000 crazy people, who have nothing else better to do).


Monday, October 27, 2008 at 13:27:37 mst
Comment ID: #30
Name: Tara
E-mail: sashakelly19(at)aim.com

I would go to a different country to get an abortion. I'm pro-choice and I think that the church and the goverment needs to stay out of peoples lives. Women will finds ways to get abortions, and to get birth control. Please vote no on Amendment 48 for this is our lives that the goventment and the church is messing with.


Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 21:47:13 mst
Comment ID: #31
Name: walongloop
E-mail: walongloop(at)yahoo.com

Diana, your arguments against 48 are deeply flawed and contradict the
facts as established by modern embryology.

> If approved, this amendment would outlaw all abortions

The amendment does not outlaw anything. It simply provides a legal definition of a "person" that incorporates what is know to modern science.

Why oppose a definition of "person" that is consistent with known fact?

> the advocates of this amendment such as Colorado Right to Life and
> Colorado for Equal Rights offer no secular justification for their
> views

What is not secular about clinical embryology? I can cite for you a number of texts on clinical embryology which establish that the union of an oocyte and a sperm at conception results in a distinct, living, and growing human being. That has absolutely nothing to do with religion.

> Embryos and fetuses are not persons

This is a statement of pure opinion, not fact.

Human development begins at conception and does not complete until maturity is reached at adulthood. A zygote, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus are all human organisms at the earlier stages of the human development cycle. This cycle also includes newborn, infant, toddler, child, and adolescent stages.

At ALL stages, the growing life is a human being. It is not scientifically valid to introduce an arbitrary "dividing line" between any of these developmental stages and claim that is the point when a human being has "begun".

> they are not biologically independent creatures but encased within
> and wholly dependent on the woman.

This distorts the fundamental nature of human reproduction. Human beings are not created spontaneously as complex multicellular organisms. They begin as a single cell and grow from that.

"Biological independence" is a term that has no scientific meaning and falsely conveys a presumption that a human being cannot be physically joined to another. Are conjoined twins NOT human beings until they are physically separated?

Your term "fertilized egg" is also scientifically inaccurate. A human oocyte or "egg" has 23 chromosomes. When combined with a human sperm at conception, the result is a human zygote which is a single totipotent cell that has 46 chromosomes. It is NOT an "egg" any more.

> Amendment 48 rests on the absurdity that a fertilized egg is a full
> human person with an absolute right to biological life-support from a
> woman—regardless of her choices and whatever the cost to her.

Existing law already requires women to provide "biological life support" to their newborns and infants, in terms of providing food, shelter, care, etc. Should we revoke the current laws against abandonment, abuse, and neglect in order to give women more "choices"?

In the name of "choice", do we want more cases like poor little Jason Midyette?

In the name of "choice", do we want more cases like Tammy Skinner -- the VA woman who shot herself in the abdomen in order to kill her full-term, healthy, and viable baby? Skinner succeeded in killing her baby, and was not charged with a crime.

> The biological facts support a different view, namely that personhood
> and rights begin at birth.

This is incorrect. Biological facts simply define what constitutes a human being. They do not and can not define what constitutes "personhood" and/or "rights".

Laws that define legal "personhood" and "rights" should be consistent with the biological facts, not in opposition to them. Anything else is a lie that exploits women instead of helping or freeing them.


Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 20:53:04 mst
Comment ID: #32
Name: happymom

Thank you "walongloop" for explaining what ammendment 48 is actually about. Well said.


Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 22:13:51 mst
Comment ID: #33
Name: Brooke

I believe that we should stop trying to ban early abortion but i do not believe they should be done after two months or eight weeks. I tihnk we should allow our children to learn more about birth control in school. If you are strongly for abortion more power to you but i do believe as the person that is supposed to guide your child and be its protector why would you want to kill it. With my last pregnancy i considered and abortion and i decided to do some research I watched a video that changed my views on abortion completely. If you get a chance watch the video Silent Scream it is an abortion from the victims point of view. I am deeply sickened by parial birth abortions where a baby from 20 weeks up to seven months term is delivered gouged in the back of the head with scissors and then their skulls colapsed and disposed of. Hmmmmmm does that sound right to you. We are quick to say a woman or man that has killed their newborn baby is sick and in the wrong but yet so many of you condone this terrifying procedure. I think we need to better inform our children of the precautions they need to take in order to not become pregnant in the first place.


Friday, November 7, 2008 at 1:30:11 mst
Comment ID: #34
Name: Reality Check from High School Teacher

For those concerned with educating our children about birth control, please be informed that teenagers today know more about sex and birth control than all generations before them put together. In my 15 years of teaching high school and taking the time to know my students, I testify that 1) Birth control can be easily obtained with the school nurse. 2) Most students prefer to abstain from condom use because "it feels better without it." 3) Worst of the many cases, one student by the age of fifteen had 5 abortions, plus 3 during the year in which I taught her, Biology, of all subjects. For many of today's youth, abortion is a means of birth control. Open your eyes! We give animals more rights than we give ourselves. Many of you criticize the amendment and the people who support it. Someone needs to take a stand and speak up for those who cannot. HOW ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS!!! It is true that if someone murders a pregnant mother, the killer gets charged for 2 murders. SEE THE DOUBLE STANDARD! Rape, incest and a mother's life in danger are the least of the reasons why women get abortions. OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE THAT MOST ARE DONE IN THE NAME OF CONVENIENCE. For those worried about the poor and the inner city youth dying in motels and bathrooms while aborting. When was the last time, you traveled through the inner city? Have you noticed the number of single women and young children? These young women cannot afford abortions not to mention that most of them dare defy all and choose life. Let's not forget that many also find the monthly government checks welcome. How about making men and women responsible for their actions. We excuse too many things on the name of freedom and really what are we doing? The future will judge us. The young will care for us in our old age the same way they've seen us care for them. Think about it some, don't just react. Please really think before just reacting on selfish emotion. No one has said "NO ABORTIONS AT ALL! There are special circumstances like rape, incest and the life of a mother. How about the rest. Have 50 million aborted babies been from rape, incest and sparing the life of mothers? I think not!!!


Friday, November 7, 2008 at 20:43:29 mst
Comment ID: #35
Name: girl talk
E-mail: miss_bre_04(at)yahoo.com

I PUT IT LIKE THIS..... ABORTION IS WRONG I UNDERSTAND THAT AND I DON'T LIKE IT.. BUT IF A WOMAN HAS BEEN RAPED, MOLESTED, OR ECT THERE SHOULD BE SOME CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO. A WOMAN HAS A RIGHT TO DO WHAT IS FIT BEST FOR HER. SUCH AS TAKING FORMS OF CONCEPTION TO PREVENT "UNWANTED PREGANCY" OR USING CONDOMS. WHATS NEXT YALL GONNA STOP SELLING THOSE TO HUH???? WELL THINK ABOUT THIS THERE IS TOO MUCH DIEASES OUT HERE TO TALKING ABOUT NO "CONCEPTIVES" THATS BULL BECAUSE IF THATS THE CASE THEN PPL SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT MURDERING THEMSELVES WHILE HAVING UNPROTECTED SEX. AND YES WE AS A INDIVIDUAL SHOULD WAIT FOR MARRIAGE UNDERSTANDABLE.... BUT TIMES HAS CHANGED AND IM PRETTY SURE GOD SEES WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED OR TRANSFORMED ON THIS EARTH. WITH THIS AMMENDMENT YOU GUYS ARE NOT ONLY SAYING NO TO BIRTH CONTROL AND CONDOMNS BUT YOU ARE SAYING YES TO HAVING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES AND STDS. GET A DAMN GRIP. ITS DANGEROUS I FEEL THAT ANYONE WHO PRACTICES SAFE SEX WITH USING CONDOMNS AND PREVENTING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES IS DOING A DAMN GOOD JOB OF PROTECTING THEIR BODIES FROM HARMFUL BULLSHIT. AND MAY I ADD YOU ARE TAKING AWAY WOMENS RIGHTS FOR THEMSELVES. AND IF WOMEN DON'T WON'T CHILDREN THEN THATS THEIR CHOICE, WITH THIS AMMENDMENT YOU ARE PRETTY MUCH "TELLING OR FORCING" WOMEN TO HAVE CHILDREN THEY ARE NOT READY FOR!!!!!! THINK ABOUT IT. SERIOUSLY U ARE TAKING AWAY THEIR RIGHTS. NOW THATS WRONG!!!! IF YOU WANNA TALK MORALE CHURCH AND STATE ARE TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS.


Friday, December 19, 2008 at 3:07:50 mst
Comment ID: #36
Name: Reece - Iphone
E-mail: dontae.stewart(at)gmail.com
URL: http://www.aesir.ru

I agree with you completely. I always read the comments and enjoy all perspectives. I typically appreciate and enjoy the ones with which I disagree the most. But "girl talk" is not the case... every case is unique and one should think about exceptions!


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