Opponents of ‘Personhood Amendment’ rally at Capitol

By CPR News Staff and The Associated Press

July 23, 2014

Photo: Amendment 67 Opponents Rally — Vicki Cowart, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, speaks to the "No on 67" rally in front of the state Capitol.

Groups opposed to this year’s version of the personhood amendment kicked off their campaign with a rally at the state Capitol Tuesday.

Amendment 67 would give embryos and fetuses legal standing in Colorado’s criminal code, a change amendment supporters say is necessary to punish people who cause miscarriages through an accident or assault.

It's also called the Brady Amendment, after the unborn baby who died after his mother was hit by a drunken driver.

Opponents are vowing to defeat the measure they say would ban abortion and commonly used forms of birth control, like the Pill.

Supporters of the amendment argue it would also protect expectant mothers, but Christina Aguilar with the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights calls that argument deceptive.

"It would actually do the opposite," Aguilar said. "It would criminalize women and outlaw all abortion."

Officials from Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado and the American Civil Liberties Union were among those who spoke at the rally.

"Life at any stage is precious," Rastrelli said. "[Opponents are] trying to say as long as it’s inside, it doesn’t count for anything."

Colorado law currently allows prosecutors to bring extra charges against someone who assaults a pregnant woman, causing her to miscarry, but the statute doesn’t consider that death a homicide.