Melina Hernandez unpeeled two “No 48” stickers and stuck one on each shoulder of her hot pink T-shirt with emphatic slaps as Amendment 48 opponents launched their field campaign Thursday.
Hernandez’s T-shirt also read: “Women’s health matters.”
“This would be a huge step backward,” said Hernandez, 25, a University of Denver law student. “I want to be part of that never happening again.”
Amendment 48 is the so-called Personhood Amendment, which would define a person, for purposes of state constitutional protections, as “any human being from the moment of conception.”
Proponents say the amendment would guarantee the pre-born equal rights to life, liberty and due process of law — laying the legal foundation to end abortion.
Opponents say giving such status to a fertilized egg could lead to banning abortion, emergency contraception and birth control — resulting in restricted health care, invaded patient privacy and clogged courts.
“I’m concerned about the implications of not having birth control available to everybody,” Hernandez said.
Amendment 48 was put on the ballot by another resolute young law student, Kristi Burton, who was 19 when she, her father and mother, all of Peyton, established Colorado for Equal Rights in July 2007. They began the ballot initiative process with less than $200.
“We’re still very excited,” Burton said “We running a positive campaign, telling people that life, personhood, begins when an individual being is created at fertilization.”
Burton’s group and the Colorado Right to Life Committee had raised almost $235,000 through the end of August to campaign for Amendment 48.
Opponents have raised more than $652,000, including $62,620 through Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains and more than $589,000 through the Protect Families Protect Choice Coalition.
“People working hard for something can defeat money working for something,” Burton said.
“Amendment 48 is being pushed by a narrow minority with an extreme political view,” said Fofi Mendez, campaign director for “No on 48.”
“This amendment would ban all abortions without exception,” Mendez said. “It would establish a legal nightmare,” potentially interfering with everything from stem-cell research to inheritance rights.
Ryan Osmond, 36, a member of Resolve: The National Infertility Association, spoke at the “No on 48” rally about his fears that the amendment could end fertility treatments that produce surplus embryos.
“Our family decisions need to be private,” Osmond said. His 21-month daughter, Claire, a result of fertility treatments, applauded.
Dr. Andrew Ross, an Englewood obstetrician and gynecologist, said the amendment “could criminalize routine medical procedures I do every day,” including the prescribing of several types of contraception.
Burton said the amendment does none of the above. It would, she said, give rights to the pre-born that would enable lawmakers and judges to weigh their interests along with everyone else’s. Any changes to laws would require subsequent action by lawmakers or judges.
“Now the unborn are treated as less than human,” Burton said.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
