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Colorado Pro-life Group Introduces Amendment Recognizing "Personhood" of Unborn Child

By Peter J. Smith

DENVER, Colorado, July 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life leaders in Colorado are laying the groundwork to challenge the heart of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision with a constitutional amendment that would completely outlaw abortion by recognizing the personhood of the unborn child.

WorldNetDaily reports that the amendment proposed by Colorado Equal Rights would define "any human being from the moment of fertilization" as a "person" under article 2 of the state Constitution.

The title given to the proposed human life amendment reads: "Shall there be 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?"

"We're defining when personhood begins," Mark Meuser, spokesman for Colorado Equal Rights told WND. "In this state, there would be no abortions."

"Our goal is to take this all the way to the Supreme Court, and argue the personhood of the preborn baby. When we were writing this, we wanted to have a singular focus so that nobody is confused," Meuser said. "We want to force the argument that has been avoided for 34 years by the U.S. Supreme Court."

Meuser says that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision has a glaring weakness that for the past 34 years has not been exploited by the pro-life movement. In that decision, Justice Harry Blackmun, the author of Roe wrote, "If this suggestion of personhood [for the unborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."

The pro-life initiative passed its latest challenge after the state's Title Board ruled 3-0 that the amendment successfully met Colorado's "single subject" rule and could not be construed as "misleading."

However the proposed human life amendment will likely face a court challenge from pro-abortion groups determined not to take any chances. If no appeal is made within seven days, Colorado for Equal Rights could begin to collect the 76,000 signatures they need to get the amendment on the ballot for 2008.

Meuser nevertheless told WND that he was confident that the human life amendment had a chance of success, but much would depend on the response of Catholics and Evangelicals and the collaboration of pro-life groups in Colorado.

"We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think it could happen," Meuser said. "History shows if we are able to give our vision to evangelical Christians and Catholics, and show them that vision, they will turn out and this thing will pass."

See the original article on WorldNetDaily:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56764

More information on the proposed amendment and Colorado Equal Rights can be obtained from their website:
http://www.coloradoequalrights.com/

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