Colorado 'Personhood' Initiative Is 'Extreme Measure,' Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Abortion;  Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 16 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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The proposed Colorado ballot initiative to define a fertilized human egg as a person with all constitutional rights is an "extreme measure no matter how you look at it," Gail Schoettler -- a former U.S. ambassador and lieutenant governor and treasurer of Colorado -- writes in a Denver Post opinion piece.

Instead of "focusing their efforts on making abortions unnecessary," supporters of the amendment have "taken an extreme position with far-reaching consequences they didn't even consider," Schoettler writes. According to Schoettler, the initiative could potentially prevent some cancer treatments, in vitro fertilization treatments and use of birth control. It also would ban human embryonic stem cell research in the state, according to Schoettler. "Surely if you want to eliminate abortions, you would start with birth control so that unwanted pregnancies don't occur in the first place," Schoettler writes, adding, "Not this crowd -- they want to eliminate our medical choices instead."

Schoettler writes that the amendment "enshrines" in the state's constitution "a ban on critical medical choices for women, couples and our society" and creates a "whole new category of 'persons' with special rights, even though its object is not a person or even a fetus" (Schoettler, Denver Post, 9/11).

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