January 05, 2012 10:01 PM UTC

"Personhood's" New Groove

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• by: Colorado Pols

The AP reports via the Durango Herald:

Abortion opponents making a third attempt to get voters to outlaw abortions in Colorado are trying a new tactic: details.

The abortion foes have put forward a lengthy so-called “personhood” amendment for ballots this fall that goes far beyond earlier, unsuccessful attempts to outlaw abortion.

The plan’s new language, cleared by a state title board Wednesday, says abortions are illegal even in cases of rape and incest. It also says human stem-cell research and fertility treatments that kill fertilized embryos, such as in-vitro fertilization, would be banned. It says a mother would not be held liable for “spontaneous miscarriage” and that the measure would not apply to “medical treatment for life-threatening medical conditions.”

…The longer, four-section amendment proposed for 2012 ballots goes into more detail. It bans “only birth control that kills a person.” It repeatedly uses the phrase “innocent person,” so the amendment could not be interpreted as an end to capital punishment.

As you know, the 2008 “personhood” Amendment 62 took many Republicans who started in support of the initiative by surprise–like Senate candidate Ken Buck, who “didn’t realize” the measure’s vague language would likely have banned “common forms” of birth control. We’re not completely sure how you would interpret this newer language, but any clarification of that sort of thing should indeed help proponents. At the very least, it removes wiggle room previously available to Republican candidates, who will be expected to support this unless they can find a technicality to defer with. In that respect, maybe Republicans won’t appreciate the “clarity?”

Of course, once it comes out in the Blue Book how this measure would in much clearer language purposefully ban abortion in cases of rape or incest, we expect the changes won’t help much. While that would not have troubled Ken Buck, such provisions will have about the same effect on most voters that “banning birth control” or anything else would. That is, a repulsive effect.

But at least there’ll be no arguing about what repulses you.