Activists Challenge Colarodo Voting Initiative Defining Fertilized Eggs as Persons

Via RH Reality Check (8/10/07):

A veritable who's who of reproductive health champions filed a legal challenge with the Colorado Supreme Court late yesterday to stem a proposed ballot measure that would advance anti-abortion law and limit access to some contraception methods.

The action is designed to thwart a proposed state constitutional amendment that was initiated by the recently-formed Colorado for Equal Rights. The group won approval last month to begin collecting ballot petition signatures to ask Colorado voters to decide: is a fertilized egg a person with legal rights and Constitutionally-protected due process?

Yesterday's Supreme Court challenge was filed on behalf of seven Colorado women all long time advocates of reproductive choice: Ellen Brilliant (affiliation unknown); Trudy Brown (affiliation unknown); Toni Panetta (NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado); Lizzy Annison (Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains); Vicki Cowart (Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains); Cathryn Hazouri (American Civil Liberties Union); and Jacy Montoya (Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights). 

The opponents' concerns were outlined in a press release issued by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains:      

Defining a fertilized egg as a person in the state constitution would have sweeping consequences. "As providers of reproductive health care Planned Parenthood is gravely concerned about what this measure could mean for women using birth control to prevent unintended pregnancies, as well as couples using in vitro fertilization to start their families," said Annison. "We are still trying to understand the implications for giving an egg access to the courts by granting 'equality of justice' and protecting its 'due process of law.' Defining an egg as a person in the Colorado constitution is extreme."