Last week, you recall, U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck announced that he was withdrawing his support for the Personhood Initiative, which would give citizenship rights to fertilized eggs from humans.
Why? Because, Buck said, he didn't understand that the initiative would ban common forms of birth control, like the Pill and IUDs.
This leaves me wondering whether the other Personhood endorsers in Colorado understand the Initiative correctly? And whether they will take a cue from Buck and un-endorse Amendment 62.
It's a legitimate question for reporters, given that birth control is apparently quite common here in Colorado, given that our human population isn't skyrocketing, and common forms of it would be banned if the Personhood measure passes.
It would also ban abortion and even the morning-after pill, even for a 14-year-old girl who is hypothetically raped by her older brother. Buck has not backed off his anti-abortion stance, even in cases of rape and incest--and even for a 14-year-old girl raped by her brother.
In a KBDI Channel 12 debate Sept. 17, News4 reporter Terry Jessup asked Gualberto Garcia Jones of Personhood Colorado about support for Amendment 62:
"I mean there's no one out there with the possible exception of Ken Buck that has talked about this much," Jessup asked Gualberto. "Why is that?"
Jessup is right that candidates aren't talking about Personhood much, at least in front of reporters, but plenty of them have endorsed the measure, which means candidates have been talking about it behind the scenes.
As Jones pointed out in response to Jessup:
"One of the changes that we saw from this amendment from the last amendment in 2008 is that we have had at least had tacit endorsement from every major GOP candidate out there. Every candidate that calling himself pro-life is saying personhood is the way to go. And to me that's a great in roads. Ken Buck is willing to stand up for a child conceived in rape. That takes guts, and I really appreciate that."
"Tacit" support is hard to pin down, but here's a list below of candidates (32 Republicans and Tancredo) on record as endorsing the measure, according to surveys by the Christian Family Alliance of Colorado and/or Colorado Right to Life.
LIST OF COLORADO CANDIDATES WHO'VE ENDORSED THE PERSONHOOOD AMENDMENT, ALL GOP EXCEPT TOM TANCREDO
» Ken Buck (U.S. SENATE -- now says he's neutral)
» Dan Maes (Governor)
» Tom Tancredo (Governor)
» Cory Gardner (Congress)
» Sue Sharkey (CU Regent)
Colorado SENATE Candidates
» Greg Brophy (SD 1)
» Kevin Grantham (SD 2)
» Vera Ortegon (SD 3)
» Wayne Wolf (SD 5)
» Steve King (SD 7)
» Kent Lambert (SD 9)
» Scott Renfroe (SD 13)
» Kevin Lundberg (SD 15)
» Timothy Leonard (SD 16)
» Mike Kopp (SD 22)
» Tedd Harvey (SD 30)
Colorado HOUSE candidates
» Mark Barker (HD 17)
» Libby Szabo (HD 27)
» Jim Kerr (HD 28)
» Kaarl Hoopes (HD 32)
» Brian Vande Krol (HD 34)
» Edgar Antillon (HD 35)
» Kathleen Conti (HD 38)
» Frank McNulty (HD 43)
» Chirs Holbert (HD 44)
» Steve Rodriguez (HD 46)
» Glenn Vaad (HD 48)
» BJ Nikkel (HD 49)
» Ray Scott (HD 54)
» Randy Baumgardner (HD 57)
» Mark Rogers (HD 58)
» John Becker (HD 63)
» Jerry Sonnenberg (HD 65)