Eighteen newspapers across Colorado are urging readers to vote no on the "personhood" measure on Colorado's ballot, Amendment 67.
"We are pleased by the outpouring of strong support from so many respected news organizations, who are urging their communities to reject this latest effort to criminalize Colorado women and their doctors," said Vote NO 67 Campaign Director Fofi Mendez in a news release. "It is critical that voters understand the tricky wording of Amendment 67, and Vote NO on this dangerous proposition."
The personhood proposal, overwhelmingly rejected by voters in 2008 and 2010, would allow prosecutors to file murder charges against women, doctors, or others involved in performing an abortion, even for rape and incest.
Other charges could be brought against women who lose a pregnancy due to behavior defined as "reckless" or abusive under Colorado law.
"Amendment [67] would open up a hornet's nest of uncertainties around women's health choices and doctor-patient confidentiality. Such ambiguities have no place in our constitution," editorialized The Greeley Tribune Oct. 3.
In a similar vein, the Pueblo Chieftain argued Sept. 23, "The wording could very likely expose the state to a cascade of expensive legal challenges that the taxpayers can ill afford."
It appears that not a single newspaper in Colorado supports Amendment 67, but Personhood USA's spokeswoman Jennifer Mason published an opinion piece in The Denver Post, urging a yes vote on the measure.
"Yes, pregnant women and unborn children should be protected in Colorado," wrote Mason. "Yes, the Colorado criminal code and Colorado wrongful death act should be changed. Many other states in the U.S. prosecute for the homicide of unborn children, and it is time for Colorado to defend its smallest citizens. Yes on Amendment 67."
While it's true that other states have fetal-homicide laws, it appears that no such law anywhere in the country has the same sweeping impact of Amendment 67, which potentially subjects pregnant women to prosecution for everything from not wearing a seat belt to falling off a ladder while paining a nursery.
A Denver Post poll released yesterday showed Amendment 67 losing by a 54-32 margin.