December 23, 2011 10:15 PM UTC

"Personhood" Survives Single-Subject Challenge, Closer To 2012 Ballot

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Springs Independent reports:

For the third time, extreme pro-lifers are planning to put an initiative on the Colorado ballot asking voters to give zygotes and fetuses the same rights as people.

The so-called “personhood amendment” is being considered by the Colorado Secretary of State as Initiative 46. Wednesday, it made a major stride toward the ballot when the Secretary of State’s office decided that its language did not violate the state’s single subject rule as opponents alleged.

Proponents still have a long road ahead of them to get their question on the ballot, not the least of which will be petitioning if final approval from the Title Setting Review Board is granted…

Presumably the pro-“personhood” organizers, nationally headquartered in Colorado Springs, won’t have any trouble obtaining the necessary signatures to get it on the ballot once again–after all, they’ve got Cory Gardner to pass the form around his church, and evangelical conservatives by the thousands with him. You couldn’t ask for a more reliable base.

But the “personhood” initiative, as the Independent continues, hasn’t done any better in any state it’s been tried since its lopsided defeat in Colorado last year–although it’s a drain on resources for opponents to have to fight these initiatives over and over again. Politically, we think at this point the hardcore pro-life Christians pushing this initiative couldn’t care less who they burn at the polls, and it’s a matter of faith now that they keep trying until they are successful. It’s been widely postulated that these sweeping abortion bans produce more Democratic turnout in opposition than conservatives in support, and the far-reaching nature of these measures create big problems for even solidly pro-life conservatives who support them.

Ken Buck can explain it to you better than we can.