Colorado Personhood Amendment Supporters Say They Now Have Enough Signatures To Make Ballot

DENVER — Colorado abortion opponents say they have enough signatures to put an abortion-ending proposal on the ballot this fall – potentially the first state this election year to see the question.

Abortion opponents turned in more than 46,000 signatures on Thursday, the second deadline for the ballot initiative.

The group needs only about 15,700 of those signatures to be deemed valid for the abortion question to go to ballots this fall.

The amendment would give unborn fetuses human rights in the state constitution, setting up a likely conflict with the U.S. Constitution over a woman's right to abortions.

Personhood USA, the Colorado-based group pushing similar measures in 40 states this year, says it's waiting on Mississippi officials to clear signatures and approve an initiative for the ballot this fall. In Montana, abortion opponents say they'll make a June deadline for about 50,000 signatures needed to make the ballot.

"It's time to let the babies reclaim their liberty," said Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life.

A similar measure was on Colorado ballots in 2008, and voters soundly rejected it. Abortion rights supporters say they'll campaign against the abortion-ending ballot measure again this year if it makes the ballot.

It will take about 10 days for the secretary of state's office to review the signatures.

Personhood USA says getting the abortion measure on the Colorado ballot is more difficult this time because of a new state law that tightens rules for gathering signatures. Several activist groups have already filed suit over the new law.

Among other changes, the law tightens identification requirements and limits groups that want to pay people to gather signatures.

"This new law squelches our First Amendment right to petition," said conservative activist and radio host Jon Caldara, whose Independence Institute is currently working on a ballot initiative to circumvent a possible federal health insurance mandate.

Rich Coolidge, a spokesman for Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, a defendant in the lawsuit targeting the new law on initiatives, declined to comment on the pending litigation or criticism that the new rules are onerous. He said three ballot initiatives have already been cleared for the Colorado ballot.

Abortion opponents who turned in the additional signatures Thursday said they're confident they've cleared the tighter rules, and the measure would be approved for the fall ballot.

They said their focus now will be on boosting support for the idea that failed badly at the polls in 2008. Some volunteers who gathered signatures for the abortion measure conceded the odds are long, saying that gathering signatures was more difficult this year than it was two years ago.

"This was harder. I don't know why, but people were more callous this time and didn't want to listen," said volunteer Chet Malouf of Denver.

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On the Net:

Read the petition:

http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/files/docs/personhood-resolution2010.pdf

Comments

[anitaj]

02:13 PM on 03/21/2010

""This was harder. I don't know why, but people were more callous this time and didn't want to listen," said volunteer Chet Malouf of Denver."

People are more educated about the wacky wording of the proposed amendment this time around. Voters are less willing to sign something when they understand the ramifications of language that makes contraception illegal and reduces women to nothing more than walking wombs.

I have high hopes that this proposed amendment will go down in flames ... again.

[Spiritof1982]

02:41 PM on 03/20/2010

Utah is right next door. Why don't these creepy "culture of life-ers" just move in there? They could pass this thing on the first try there. People like these make Colorado look so horrible to the rest of the country. As does our kooky ballot initiative process...

[Fred303]

12:56 PM on 03/20/2010

The feminist movement wants women to feel empowered , but having the right to kill an unborn child is not the best way to show your empowerment..

[Spiritof1982]

02:38 PM on 03/20/2010

How about the power to take back your life from an unwanted pregnancy?

[Spiritof1982]

02:45 PM on 03/20/2010

And you've played fast and loose with terminology. The whole "unborn child" terminology is tiresome and inaccurate. It belongs on a cheaply made, roadside sign next to I-70 in Kansas.

[pckatz]

12:40 PM on 03/20/2010

When will these anti-choice people go away? No one is making them get an abortion-can't they leave the rest of us alone???

[gimiesome]

10:24 AM on 03/21/2010

Most of them have chosen abstinence as away of life and you know how crazy that makes people.

[ilovemyprez]

11:32 PM on 03/19/2010

Someone asked me to sign one of those during the St. Patty's day parade in Denver. I politely told her that I didn't want to sign it, and she picked a fight with me. I consider myself a Southern girl with good manners, but I almost got into a public fight with a complete stranger at an event that should have been fun and non-political. When will these people accept that nobody is making THEM get an abortion? We waste so much time on something that we will never all agree on when we should be talking about preventative measures like contraception.

[suzc]

10:46 AM on 03/19/2010

These personhood activists must be the same ones as in the birther movement.
Equally misguided.

[pjgm]

09:44 AM on 03/19/2010

These are the same jokers who push to minimize sex education in the schools and make access to contraception difficult.

[Fred303]

03:50 AM on 03/19/2010

We should tax females that get this medical procedure as they are more likely to suffer mentally in the future with depression and the rest end-up getting higher premiums.

[EthelB]

01:21 PM on 03/19/2010

Please do some research. Women who make the choice to have an abortion are at no greater risk of mental health problems than those who choose to carry the pregnancy to term.

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2008/08/single-abortion.aspx

[Fred303]

01:27 PM on 03/19/2010

i did

Abortion / Clinical Depression Linked in Major Study

http://www.enotalone.com/article/2624.html

[koalaholik]

08:59 PM on 03/19/2010

Maybe we should tax the men who don't bother using birth control because 1) it's the woman's job or 2) it interferes with their pleasure.

[Fred303]

02:35 AM on 03/20/2010

men pay child support , of witch i believe in.

[zombywulf]

09:38 PM on 03/18/2010

Life begins legally on the day you become a tax deduction.

[Nukualofa]

11:41 PM on 03/18/2010

Or a corporation.

[Gung-Ho]

08:13 PM on 03/18/2010

This referendum appears to be a nuisance move on the part of anti-women's rights to have abortions.
We should hope that when a referendum is trounced by voters in fewer than two years, the number of signators to petition for the same issue should be increased substantially.

Enthusiasm on the petitioners part is noted, but the taxpayers have to pay for all the expenses involved in the election process; as such, repeats in such a short period of time should be discouraged and/or charged directly to those pushing their agenda.