Colorado Amendment 67, Definition of Person Initiative (2014)

Colorado Amendment 67
Election date November 4, 2014
Topic Abortion
Status d Defeated
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

Colorado Amendment 67, the Definition of Person Initiative, was on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 4, 2014. The ballot measure was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to provide that "the words 'person' and 'child' in the Colorado Criminal Code and the Colorado Wrongful Death Act must include unborn human beings."

A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment to provide that "the words 'person' and 'child' in the Colorado Criminal Code and the Colorado Wrongful Death Act must include unborn human beings."

Election results

Colorado Amendment 67
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		702,544	35.13%
No		1,297,299	64.87%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution protecting pregnant women and unborn children by defining "person" and "child" in the Colorado criminal code and the Colorado wrongful death act to include unborn human beings?

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article XVIII, Colorado Constitution

The ballot measure would have added a Section 17 to Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Section 17. Protection of Pregnant Mothers and Unborn Children

1. Purpose and findings. In 2009, Judges of the Colorado State Court of Appeals in People V. Lage 232 P.3d (Colo. App. 2009) concluded that:

(a) "There is no definition of 'person' or 'child' of general applicability in the Criminal Code" (majority opinion by Judge Roy); and

(b) "This is an area that cries out for new legislation. Our General Assembly, unlike congress and most state legislatures, has precluded homicide prosecutions for killing the unborn" (Judge Connelly concurring in part and dissenting in part).

2. Definitions. In the interest of the protection of pregnant mothers and their unborn children from criminal offenses and neglect and wrongful acts, the words "person" and "child" in the Colorado Criminal Code and the Colorado Wrongful Death Act must include unborn human beings.

3. Self executing, and severability provision. All provisions of this section are self-executing and are severable.

4. Effective date. All provisions of this section shall become effective upon official declaration of the vote hereon by proclamation of the governor pursuant to section 1(4) of Article V.

Support

A Voice for Brady, also known as Vote Yes on 67, led the campaign in support of Amendment 67.

The campaign referred to Amendment 67 as the Brady Amendment. Personhood Colorado, an organization that supported the amendment, said, "A drunk driver killed Heather Surovik’s eight month old preborn son Brady but avoided prosecution because Colorado law doesn’t recognize Brady as a person. In honor of her son, Heather Surovik has initiated the Brady Amendment to recognize unborn babies as persons in law."

Supporters

Organizations

• Personhood Colorado
• Personhood USA

Arguments

• Jennifer Mason, spokeswoman with PersonhoodUSA: "Amendment 67 corrects the loophole in Colorado law and ensures that those criminals can be charged with killing a child in many different scenarios, whereas previous personhood amendments didn’t address the criminal code."
• A Voice for Brady: "In 2009, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that 'this is an area that cries out for new legislation.' The court also pointed out that the Colorado 'general assembly, unlike congress and most state legislatures, has precluded homicide prosecutions for killing the unborn.' The Brady Amendment is vitally important to expectant mothers and their unborn children in Colorado, serving as a deterrent to anyone who thinks that they can injure or kill an unborn child with minimal consequences."

Campaign contributions

The following campaign contribution totals for A Voice for Brady were current as of the committee's December 4, 2014, report.

PAC info:

PAC	Amount raised	Amount spent
A Voice for Brady	$39,637.65	$11,915.72
Total	$39,637.65	$11,915.72

Top contributors:

Donor	Amount
Colorado Right to Life	$19,734.65
Personhood	$12,500.00
Dee Waite	$6,608.00

Opposition

The No Personhood Issue Committee, also known as Vote No on 67, led the campaign in opposition to Amendment 67.

Supporters

Organizations

• ACLU of Colorado
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Colorado Bar Association
• Colorado Medical Society
• Drug Policy Alliance
• League of Women Voters of Colorado
• NAACP Colorado Montana Wyoming State-Area Conference
• NARAL Pro-Choice America
• NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund
• Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado

Arguments

• Cara DeGette, chairperson of Vote No on 67: "The wording of Amendment 67 is so broad and far-reaching that it would make any abortion a crime in Colorado, including in cases of rape, incest and when a mother’s health is at risk. It would make pregnant women and their doctors subject to criminal investigation, including when a woman has a miscarriage. It would even restrict access to common forms of birth control, as well as banning in-vitro fertilization treatment for women who want to have families."
• Christina Aguilar, chairperson of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights: "Amendment 67 is written in language that tries to trick us. It would criminalize women and outlaw all abortion."

Campaign contributions

The following campaign contribution totals for No on Personhood - Vote No 67 were current as of the committee's December 4, 2014, report.

PAC info:

PAC	Amount raised	Amount spent
No on Personhood - Vote No 67	$2,882,047.22	$2,081,343.34
Total	$2,882,047.22	$2,081,343.34

Top contributors:

Donor	Amount
Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado	$922,267.41
Planned Parenthood Federation of America	$525,000.00
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Inc	$434,030.00
American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Inc.	$256,114.98
NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado Foundation	$102,500.00

Media editorials

See also: Endorsements of Colorado ballot measures, 2014

Support

You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Opposition

The following media editorial boards published an editorial opposing the ballot measure:

• The Pueblo Chieftan Editorial Board: "In the past, Coloradans have rejected personhood amendments. This latest measure would be more restrictive than its predecessors due to its undefined language. And the wording could very likely expose the state to a cascade of expensive legal challenges that the taxpayers can ill afford."
• The Denver Post Editorial Board: "This version of the 'personhood' effort is wrapped in the tragedy suffered by a Longmont woman who was eight months pregnant when a drunken driver plowed into her car. Heather Surovik survived the wreck, but the baby named Brady did not. The horrific incident laid bare a gap in Colorado law that did not allow authorities to charge the drunken driver with anything for the loss of Brady. The Yes on 67 campaign attempts to capitalize on this circumstance, saying the amendment is needed to protect pregnant mothers from violence. Proponents conveniently ignore the fact that the state legislature already made the necessary statutory fix."

Polls

See also: Polls, 2014 ballot measures

Are you aware of a poll on this ballot measure that should be included below? You can share ballot measure polls, along with source links, with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Colorado Amendment 67, Definition of Person Initiative (2014)
Poll	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Support	Oppose	Undecided

Suffolk University	10/18/14 - 10/21/14	500 LV	± 4.4%	35%	45%	17%
	Question: "Amendment 67 is related to the definition of a person and a child and would amend the Colorado State Constitution. Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution protecting pregnant women and unborn children by defining "person" and "child" in the Colorado criminal code and the Colorado wrongful death act to include unborn human beings?"

Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Colorado

In 2014, a campaign for an initiated constitutional amendment needed to collect 86,105 valid signatures in Colorado. For Amendment 67, about 140,000 raw signatures were submitted. On October 14, 2013, the Colorado Secretary of State confirmed that enough signatures were valid, placing Amendment 67 on the ballot.

See also

2014 Measures

• 2014 Measures
• Abortion policy on the ballot
• 2014 legislative sessions

Colorado

• Colorado ballot measures
• Colorado ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Colorado Amendment 67 (2014)