You have to be an extremely dedicated person if your cause happens to be convincing the people of Colorado to ban all abortion, even after rape, as well as common forms of birth control. This appeals to some people, but mostly, no, it's not so popular, to put it mildly.
But the anti-abortion "personhood" activists nonetheless have the commitment to persevere, no doubt about that, as you can see in Personhood USA's year-end appeal email, excerpted below:
2012 is coming to a close and we have a lot to be grateful for in the Personhood movement. Yes, there have been defeats along the way, but with every defeat we have come back stronger, and our opponents are terrified by the knowledge that the Personhood movement is gaining ground with every fight.
We are often asked, why are you fighting for Personhood, don't you know you're going to lose? The answer is so simple. We know that abortion is simply legalized murder, and therefore, the fight for personhood is an existential struggle, we have no choice but to fight.
In 2012, the Personhood movement has been active in dozens of legislatures, it was part of the presidential election, it won key battles in several state supreme courts, and was argued all the way to the US Supreme Court.
The legal, legislative, cultural and religious foundations for victory were firmly planted in 2012, but most importantly of all, Personhood achieved the most important single objective we set out to from day one: the Personhood movement yet again stood up boldly for Truth, we were an unwavering voice for the voiceless.
In the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, we are called to be faithful, no to be successful. Success is God's alone.
We hope that you will continue to stand with us in the Personhood movement and join with us as our individual voices become a chorus, and the chorus becomes a movement, and the movement becomes the revolution that will undoubtedly defeat the culture of death.
Here in Colorado, the commitment of the personhood folks has paid off. Though small in number, they've got to be considered a major political force. Not only have they raised the profile of their own issue to a level many fringe activists can only dream about, their issue also played a major role in the partisan political world, affecting political races large and small across the state since 2008.
Yes, their ballot proposal, giving legal rights to fertilzed human eggs, was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in 2008 and 2010.
But if you're a committed advocate for a cause, winning isn't everything. You keep the long term in mind and look for victories in the arenas of public awareness, media coverage, and the like.
By these measures, their efforts have indeed been successful, as Personhood USA explains above.
Ironically, personhood's nonpartisan campaign has hurt Republican politicians, who are more likely to align with personhood, while Democrats who shun it have benefited.
For example, the response by pro-choice groups to Colorado's personhood initiative in 2008 helped embolden Democrats, in 2010, to attack GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck head on regarding his extreme anti-choice positions, which played a key role in his defeat. This led to similar Democratic tactics around the country -- tactics that help reelect Obama last year.
So it's hard to imagine anyone arguing that personhood isn't a major, historic presence in Colorado politics and beyond, despite the common perception to the contrary. And it looks like it won't be going away anytime soon.