Title Board Okays Colorado Personhood Amendment; Planned Parenthood Expected to File Suit

Denver, Colo. — The Colorado Secretary of State’s Title Board approved Personhood Colorado’s new amendment language Wednesday night prompting Planned Parenthood to announce an appeal of the decision to the state Supreme Court. The board ruled 2-1, allowing the measure to advance to the statewide petition. Opponents have five days to file the challenge.

“We feared that having to come back again for a third attempt might have caused some fatigue in our volunteers, but Planned Parenthood’s attempt to block our efforts will help us by uniting and reminding pro-life advocates of why we are fighting and who we are fighting against,” said Personhood Colorado Director Gualberto Garcia Jones, J.D.

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountain released a statement claiming that the amendment will violate the single-subject rule which limits citizen initiatives to one issue, a charge that has twice been rejected by the board and by the Court in 2008.

Similar to the previous challenges, attorneys for the abortion proponents will argue that the new proposal is “vague” despite the inclusion of a host of new clarifying details.

The 2012 Colorado Personhood Amendment reads: “In order to affirm basic human dignity, be it resolved that the right to life in this constitution applies equally to all innocent persons.”

Revisions in the new language will list the effects of enacting the measure protecting the right to life of every human being. This includes that only birth control devices that kill a person shall be affected, and only assisted reproduction methods that kill a person shall be affected. The amendment will not affect spontaneous miscarriages, and will not affect “medical treatment for life threatening physical conditions intended to preserve life.” The latter is defined as including but “not limited to treatment for cancer, ectopic and molar pregnancy, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and placenta previa.”

“Planned Parenthood’s challenge does not come as a surprise. They are losing the battle in the court of public opinion, and the improved language only ensures that this trend will continue,” continued Garcia Jones. “The abortion industry is really only left with one option. It is the same tactic they used to impose abortion on the entire nation— take the decision out of the hands of the people.”

The latest annual report from Planned Parenthood shows an increase of over $120 million in government funding. The group received $487 million dollars from the taxpayers in 2010.

“It’s not enough that they take our money to continue leading the nation in the number of abortions committed,” said Garcia Jones. “They also want to take away our right to petition.”