Amendment 48

Amendment 48 was the first initiative of its kind in the United States.  Voters rejected the so-called "personhood" amendment by a margin of almost 3-1.

“Amendment 48 was a sneaky attempt to ban abortion, even for rape and incest victims or to save the health of the woman.  It would have banned birth control in Colorado and impacted literally thousands of Colorado laws,” said Fofi Mendez, NO on 48 Campaign Director.  “Once Again, Coloradans voted to protect a woman and her family’s personal, private medical decisions and to keep the government from intruding in our doctor-patient relationships.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 4, 2008

Denver, CO (November 4, 2008)—Tonight Colorado voters rejected a constitutional amendment to define the term “person” to include a fertilized egg by a margin of almost 3-1.  Amendment 48, sometimes called the “personhood” amendment, was the first time voters in any state considered this language.  

“Amendment 48 was a sneaky attempt to ban abortion, even for rape and incest victims or to save the health of the woman, and ban birth control in Colorado,” said Fofi Mendez, NO on 48 Campaign Director.  “Again, Coloradans voted to protect the privacy and sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship.  A narrow minority with a extreme political agenda tried to amend the constitution for the rest of us, and Coloradans again overwhelmingly rejected government intrusion into personal family medical decisions.”

“As written, Amendment 48 provided voters with no information about its real-world consequences,” said Mendez.  “Once voters heard that it was a deceptive attempt to ban abortion, even for rape victims or to save the health of the woman, and that it could ban birth control, they knew that it was too extreme for Colorado and rejected it.”

The NO on 48 Campaign launched in May, and grew its broad-based, bi-partisan coalition to more than 80 state and national organizations, including Colorado doctors, nurses, and health advocates.  The campaign raised about $1.7 million dollars, and spent about $1.2 million of it on television and radio advertising.

Opposition to Amendment 48 came from across the Colorado political spectrum and included Governor Bill Ritter, Governor Bill Owens, Senate candidates Mark Udall and Bob Schaffer, and the Colorado Catholic Conference.

“The fringe groups behind Amendment 48 tried to get similar language on the ballot in Georgia, Oregon, Montana, and Michigan.  Colorado voters just rejected it by a 3-1 margin,” said Mendez.  “We hope that these extremist organizations and their donors will pay attention to their overwhelming defeat in Colorado and make the reasonable decision to not run this deceptive measure here again, or anywhere else.”