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Voters in Colorado have denied that the unborn are "persons,"rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment.With full returns not yet reported, a measure that would have afforded the unborn constitutional rights lost 73 percent to 27 percent.Voters in South Dakota also approved a Planned Parenthood-funded campaign to defeat a near-total ban on abortion, and California voters rejected a plan to require parents of minors to be notified before abortionists performed operations on their children.The vote in South Dakota, which just a few weeks ago celebrated a court victory over the abortion industry, was about 55 percent to about 45 percent in favor of Planned Parenthood's agenda. In California, the notification plan lost 52.6 to 47.6 percent.Kristi Burton, a pro-life activist who organized Colorado's campaign, said the issue already is being considered in a number of other states for future elections."We consider this a victory regardless," she told WND. "This is a new issue.""This goes to the foundation of the [abortion] issue. It does challenge Roe vs. Wade," she said. "We should consider this, as a nation, and I think we will."The plan by ColoradoForEqualRights.com would have granted to the unborn the status of "personhood." "All humans should be protected by love and by law, and this amendment is a historic effort to ensure equal rights for every person," said Burton.Opponents fretted the campaign is a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Constitution granted a right to abortion."This proposed constitutional amendment will define a person in Colorado as a human being from the moment of fertilization, the moment when life begins," according to a statement at Colorado for Equal Rights."This amendment will establish a cornerstone for protecting human life in our society … and we all know this is the right thing to do," the statement said. "This campaign is not about the power of money – it is about the power of truth." Officials said the effort had put Colorado, where the nation's first state law allowing abortion was written by Dick Lamm, a former governor, at the front of efforts to protect life in the U.S. Personhood arguments started gaining momentum after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the procedure known as partial-birth abortion can be restricted.The Colorado plan targeted a loophole U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun created when he wrote the original abortion opinion.Blackmun concluded: "(If the) suggestion of personhood [of the preborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."By defining the unborn as a person, supporters believe, voters can simply spread the covering of constitutional protection over them, too.The South Dakota plan would have allowed abortion only for rape and a few other rare circumstances.It was in the Plains state where an appeals court recently affirmed the constitutionality of a state law requiring abortionists to provide to potential patients scientific and accurate information about abortions.Activists reported then that the new state law requiring abortionists to inform women – before an abortion – that the procedure "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" apparently led to a temporary shutdown at Planned Parenthood's abortion facility.The law, endorsed by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, provides for penalties of up to two years in jail as well as loss of a medical license for abortionists who fail to follow its requirements.The abortion ban had even been endorsed by one of the founding members of the National Abortion Rights Action League, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, whose videotaped statement is available here:WND also reported just days ago when pro-life activists accused abortion promoters of attempted voter fraud.The evidence was assembled by VoteYesForLife.com organization, which had a volunteer, equipped with a tape recorder, visit the abortion activists who organized opposition to Measure 11.He then appeared on a YouTube video, describing how he was instructed to not only lobby against the abortion limits, but also vote, even though he was a temporary visitor to the state:
"They … told me that many of them have registered to vote in South Dakota and they have no intention of staying here," he said.The activist identified only as Eduardo said, "They gave me posters, they gave me literature, and they also gave me instructions on how I could do the same thing they are doing which is to influence the election South Dakotans should decide."The pro-life organization said it has asked South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long to investigate.The ban included several exceptions: the life of the mother, the health of the mother, the rape of the mother and incest.The South Dakota Legislature previously approved a complete ban on abortion, without such exceptions, which was endorsed by 44 percent of the voters in the state in 2006 in a ballot measure attacked by a multi-million dollar ad campaign by abortion providers.In California, voters were asked to require parental notification before an abortion could be performed on a minor.The group called YesOn4.net said girls under 18 cannot get a tan, a cavity filled or an aspirin from a school nurse without a parent knowing."But a doctor can perform a surgical or chemical abortion … without informing a parent."The plan simply requires physicians to notify "at least one adult family member before performing an abortion on an under-18-year-old girl."
By Bob Unruh
By Bob Unruh
As in the days of Noah...
