U.S. Senate Candidates Udall, Schaffer Oppose Colo. Ballot Measure That Would Define Fertilized Embryo As Person

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 08 Aug 2008 - 9:00 PST

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Colorado U.S. Senate candidates Rep. Mark Udall (D) and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) on Tuesday both said they oppose Amendment 48, a state ballot measure that would ban abortion by defining "personhood" as beginning at fertilization, the Denver Rocky Mountain News reports. According to the News, Udall, who supports abortion rights, has long opposed the measure. Schaffer, who opposes abortion rights and has called abortion "murder," had not taken a position on the initiative until Tuesday. Both candidates discussed the measure during separate appearances on KHOW's "Caplis and Silverman." Shaffer said, "I think there are other strategies and tactics that get us far closer to advancing the cause of human life" (Bartels, Denver Rocky Mountain News, 8/6).

If approved by state voters, the initiative would amend the state constitution to define "any human being from the moment of fertilization" as a "person" for purposes of the state's constitutional provisions "relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice and due process of law." Opponents of the initiative -- including the coalition Protect Families, Protect Choice -- have said the proposal aims not just to outlaw abortions in Colorado but ultimately to overturn Roe v. Wade by inciting a court case that would bring the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, where supporters of the measure -- including the group Colorado for Equal Rights -- hope a conservative majority would strike down Roe. Critics of the initiative also have said that it would limit medical research involving embryos, invite intrusive government oversight of pregnancies and ban common forms of contraception (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/15).

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