The Anti-Defamation League – Mountain States Region’s Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to oppose Amendment 67, one of four statewide ballot measures that Colorado voters will decide on this fall.  Amendment 67 would ban all abortions, including for victims of rape and incest, and in cases where the health of the mother is at risk.

 

The measure is sponsored by Personhood USA, a national group that has tried to pass similar laws in other states to outlaw all abortions.  The group is also responsible for similar proposed amendments in Colorado.

 

In 2008, 73 percent of Colorado voters defeated Amendment 48, which sought to define “person” as being from the “moment of fertilization.”  In 2010, 71 percent of voters opposed Amendment 62, which sought to define “person” as being “from the moment of biological development.”  This year, backers of the proposed constitutional amendment want to define  “person” or “child” as an “unborn human being.”

 

Supporters of Amendment 67 have a new spokesperson this year, Heather Surovik of Longmont.  In 2012, Surovik was involved in a tragic car accident when a drunk driver hit her car.  She was 8 1/2 months pregnant, seriously injured, and lost her unborn child, whom she named Brady.  Proponents claim that Amendment 67 is a fetal homicide law, but it is not.  Colorado already has such laws in place.  The Colorado General Assembly passed the “Crimes Against Pregnant Women Act” in 2013, which provides criminal penalties for the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.  Earlier this year, the legislature passed a second law that enables pregnant women to seek damages – civil penalties – for the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

 

ADL opposes the proposed “personhood” measure primarily because it violates the religious freedom of all.  Amendment 67 attempts to enshrine a specific religious definition of when life begins in Colorado’s state constitution.  Amendment 67 is also a challenge to civil liberties because it seeks to insert government into personal, private medical decisions and restrict women’s access to the full range of health care services.

 

For more information on Amendment 67, or how to get involved in the movement to oppose the measure, visit www.voteno67.com.