Conservatives seek to put ‘Personhood’ Amendment on 2010 California Ballot

By Heather Huntington on October 1st, 2009

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I was making dinner last night when I heard this disturbing little ditty reported on the news on NPR.

It seems the pro-lifers are trying to get an initiative on the table to change the California state constitution to say that life officially starts at the time of conception, so crimes committed against a pregnant woman are actually also crimes committed against the fetus. This sounds harmless enough until you realize that this is just a back door way to lay the groundwork to curtail the right to choice.

Sponsored by anti-abortion activist Pastor Walter Hoye, this ‘personhood initiative’ is in the early stages of getting onto the ballot for the 2010 California gubernatorial elections in which we will elect a replacement for Schwarzenegger. According to opponents, the ramifications of this amendment would not just curtail abortion rights, but would stretch as far as prohibiting birth control.

I am not amused.

A similar personhood initiative was voted down by a large margin in Colorado last year – thank God - but with our recent voting record here, I’m already concerned. California was supposed to be the land of the fruits and nuts, where they hand out solar panels and pot prescriptions at the border. But in light of our recent, shameful ban on gay marriage, I’m not so confident in my golden state.