"I must say that I am highly encouraged by the initiative effort currently under way in Colorado, which could prove to be a major step towards ending decriminalized abortion in the United States," said American Life League president Judie Brown. "The organizers of this amendment drive know that it is crucial to recognize the preborn human being as a person from the very first moment of his existence."
A statewide group, Colorado for Equal Rights, hopes to have its proposed amendment to the state constitution on the November 2008 ballot. The organization is in the process of getting its proposal approved by state elections authorities. Once that approval is granted, the group must collect some 76,000 signatures in order to give Colorado citizens an opportunity to vote on the amendment.
The proposal states that "the terms person or persons shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization." Mrs. Brown says the language gets straight to the point. "If the preborn child is legally a person, then it is a crime to do any harm to that person. And that would certainly include the crime of abortion. This is a tactic that should interest pro-lifers in other states as well."
In fact, several other states are also pondering pro-life initiatives. "Sadly," said Mrs. Brown, "we again hear that there are those in the pro-life community who are saying these efforts are counterproductive. That's hogwash. Surgical abortion takes the lives of more than 3,500 preborn babies every day in the United States. The proper time to end the killing is right now. Perhaps some of these efforts will not succeed. But if we don't even try, that is failure of the worst kind. How can anyone say the timing is wrong for ending abortion when thousands more die every day?"
Release issued: 18 Jul 07