Colorado Poll Shows Personhood Amendment 62 Likely Losing by Large Margin
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 4, 2010
Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) — A new poll of Colorado voters shows the personhood amendment, Amendment 62, likely losing by another large margin in November. The amendment defines unborn children as persons starting at conception and would draw an almost immediate legal challenge from pro-abortion groups.
A new SurveyUSA poll finds 50 percent of voters still undecided on the amendment. Of those who do know how they plan to vote, 35 percent oppose the amendment while just 15 percent say the intend to vote for it.
This is the second time voters will have been asked to consider the amendment and it went down in defeat in 2008. Colorado voters defeated Amendment 48 by a 73.5-26.5 percentage margin.
Organizers hoped the amendment would fare better this time around in what is shaping up to be one of the most pro-life election environments in more than 15 years. However, because the pro-life community is still split on the strategy behind the amendment, the poll makes it appear it will be defeated again.
As was the case last time, some pro-life groups oppose the amendment because they say it will head to the Supreme Court, which will strike it down and add to the pro-Roe v. Wade case law upholding unlimited abortions. The Catholic Church has not endorsed the measure and some say Colorado taxpayers could be stuck with the legal bills for Planned Parenthood if the abortion business wins a legal challenge against it.
Instead, they say a better strategy is supporting pro-life Senate candidate Ken Buck and replacing pro-abortion President Barack Obama — paving the way for new Supreme Court justices who could overturn Roe.
The amendment has put Buck in a difficult position — as he has been slammed in ads from pro-abortion Sen. Michael Bennet saying Buck opposes birth control and contraception because he endorses the personhood amendment. Buck has since withdrawn his endorsement of the amendment.
Personhood Colorado and Colorado Right to Life are co-sponsors of the personhood amendment — which other groups failed to get on the ballot in California, Missouri, and Nevada.
The 2010 version of the amendment is different but the differences between the 2010 and 2008 versions of the amendment are minor, with language changed to say a person is a human being "from the beginning of the biological development of that human being" in lieu of "from the moment of fertilization."
Led by Dianne Irving, a faculty member at Georgetown University known for her expertise in bioethics issues, the change was made to include all unborn children, including test tube babies.
The 2008 version of the amendment, and this one does not enjoy the support of many pro-life groups such as National Right to Life, Americans United for Life, Colorado Citizens for Life or the state’s Catholic bishops.
The amendment reads: "Section 32. Person defined. As used in sections 3, 6, and 25 of Article II of the state constitution, the term "person" shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being."
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