Protect Families Protect Choices Versus Amendment 62

The Denver Daily News reports that the major opponents of Amendment 48 have rejoined forces to oppose the new "personhood" measure, Amendment 62. Here are a few highlights:

An opposition campaign was announced yesterday to a pro-life ballot question that would give human rights to embryos. Protect Families Protect Choices says it will begin an "aggressive" campaign against Amendment 62, which was qualified by the Secretary of State's office last month for the November 2010 ballot. ... The initiative would effectively ban abortion in the State of Colorado.

"Here we go again," said Leslie Durgin, lead organizer of the opposition campaign and vice president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. "Amendment 62 is bad policy, bad law and bad medicine."

Proponents of the initiative are confident that they will have better success this year. Keith Mason, co-founder of Personhood USA, points out that this year proponents have slashed the term "fertilization" from the ballot question, instead using the phrase "biological development." The amendment would read, "The term 'person' shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being." ...

Opponents do not believe the change in language will help Personhood supporters because it still "presents the same dangerous outcomes."

"In 2008, voters learned that the 'definition of a person' amendment was an overt attempt to insert religion into law," said Jeremy Shaver, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado. We will fight once again to make sure Coloradans know the truth about Amendment 62."

The article contains some interesting statistics on likely voting patterns, but I think the "personhood" advocates are kidding themselves: Amendment 62 will go down in flames, just as Amendment 48 did. It's unfortunate that the battle needs to be fought again, but at least it's an opportunity to discuss the proper foundations of abortion rights. So ... "here we go again" is right.

You can find out more about "Protect Families Protect Choices" from its web site.