Colo. Amendment to Give Rights to Unborn
In what would be the first such measure in the history of the United States, a pro-life group in Colorado has successfully submitted a referendum that would give equal legal status to the unborn.
The constitutional amendment, which reads, "The term 'person' or 'persons' shall include any human being from the moment of conception," would successfully outlaw abortion throughout the entire state if a majority of voters vote positively on the amendment when they go to the polls this November.
Colorado for Equal Rights, which helped gather over 130,000 signatures to qualify the referendum on this year's ballot, praised the initiative as victory for human life.
"We are giving Colorado voters an opportunity to vote their conscience and protect the most innocent and helpless ones among us. If life is protected from the very beginning, Colorado for Equal Rights believes that we can transform our nation from a culture of death into a culture of life," the group said.
A key part of the amendment, the group emphasized, would give all unborn persons from conception the "inalienable rights" of "enjoying and defending their lives and liberties."
"All humans should be protected by love and by law, and this amendment is a historic effort to ensure equal rights for every person," explained Kristi Burton of Colorado for Equal Rights.
The success of the ballot initiative has also recently encouraged pro-life groups in Montana to begin gathering signatures to push a similar measure of their own.
