News

DENVER, Feb. 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Personhood Colorado submitted signatures to the Secretary of State's office Friday for the Colorado Personhood Amendment. The signatures submitted totaled 79,817, although only 76,047 were required. All signatures are pending validation by the Colorado Secretary of State's office.

“We are thrilled with these results. These signatures represent thousands of hours of hard work,” remarked Gualberto Garcia-Jones, co-sponsor of the amendment. “All of our volunteers are 100% committed to seeing that the dignity and personhood of preborn babies is recognized in Colorado, and it shows.”

The proposed amendment states, in part, that “the term 'person' shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being.”

The signature campaign included hundreds of churches, as well as over 1,000 petition circulators, and other volunteers. All signatures submitted were gathered by volunteers, and the campaign was 100% volunteer-run, with no paid petitioners or staff.

“Colorado is paving the way for personhood,” commented Keith Mason, co-founder of Personhood USA. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans are catching the vision of personhood, and we expect that several other states will soon follow Colorado in putting personhood on the ballot.”

Once the signatures are verified by the Colorado Secretary of State, the amendment will be placed on the 2010 ballot and put to a vote.

“Our grassroots, volunteer campaign will continue to be a success, because we are working towards a very worthy cause—protecting the lives of innocent Colorado citizens,” Garcia-Jones continued. “The 79,817 signatures are an indicator that the people of Colorado are determined to protect innocent life; we will not rest until every child is protected by love and by law.”

A similar amendment sponsored by Colorado for Equal Rights was defeated on the November 2008 ballot.  Since Colorado's first attempt, personhood movements have sprung up in several states, including Kansas, Montana, Florida, Nevada, Alaska, and Mississippi.