Yesterday afternoon at Congregation Emanuel, the campaign against Amendment 48 staged an event where 5 citizens testified about why they are against the amendment, how it goes too far, and how amendment 48 had it previously been law, would have wreaked havoc in their lives. The testimonies were real, heart wrenching and enlightening.
Included in the panel were two pastors from the metro area, Pastor Greg Garland from Broomfield and Pastor Cindy Cearley from Montview Presbyterian. The other three women were Amanda, a sexual assault survivor, Lauren who relies on the pill for family planning and Diane who has a large family and is a breast cancer survivor. The following is a brief look into the lives of these everyday people and how a law, which states a fertilized egg is a person, would have adversely affected them.
While jogging, Amanda was attacked, brutally beaten and raped. She had no idea what was happening to her or why. Struggling to make it stop, she rolled herself over a cliff to run to safety. Injured, she got to the hospital where she was offered Emergency Contraception. This type of contraception prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall and becoming a pregnancy. Under amendment 48, emergency contraception would be illegal and women like Amanda would have to carry the pregnancy to term. Under the rule of a law like Amendment 48, she would be stripped of her ability to choose and the pursuit of happiness. This law would further exacerbate the pain and alienation experienced by women who are brutally attacked every hour of everyday. Amendment 48 completely lacks compassion and is totally negligent of the reality of at least 25% of Colorado women. 1 in 4 women in Colorado are victims of sexual assault.
Lauren graduated from college and is pursuing a job that suits her talents. She is married to a man she loves. She knows in hard economic times that having a child would make it more difficult for her to do what she needs to do in order to go where she wants to go. She desires children in the future, but not until things are more stable. Lauren is very smart and very determined. She knows what is in her best interest and wants to succeed. Lauren is like many women who use the pill for family planning. Under Amendment 48, the pill would be illegal because it can prevent a fertilized egg from becoming a pregnancy. This amendment would give the "egg inalienable rights to implant" thereby making it illegal for women to use the pill.
A few years ago, Diane was diagnosed with breast cancer. As a mother and wife, she was worried about her family and who would take care of them. Diane was fortunate to receive radiation therapy that saved her life. If upon diagnosis Diane would have been recently pregnant, under 48 she would have been denied life-saving treatment and her family would be without their mother for the rest of their lives. Diane stated that she needs to be able to trust her doctor to be looking out for her health and best interest. Amendment 48 would confuse that relationship.
Pastor Cindy Cearley of Montview Presbyterian in Denver had been trying to start a family with her husband for years. The doctors could not tell her why she was not getting pregnant. It was a complicated situation with no easy answers. After years of questions and no answers, she finally was able to have an in vitro pregnancy take hold. The wisdom she has to share is that, "The few words of this amendment are deceptively simple but in reality, reproductive issues are anything but simple."
The last speaker was another pastor. Greg Garland from Broomfield touched on what the founders of The Constitution thought was the primary, most fundamental, paramount right: the first amendment and the separation of church and state. To legislate that a fertilized egg is a person with inalienable rights, is a faith based belief you can come to only on your own terms. Pastor Garland mentioned how this amendment would contradict long held axioms of many faiths traditional in the United States. He reminds us that not all religions advocate life begins at fertilization. This amendment violates the first amendment of the United States of America.
Each of these stories is deeply personal and requires great strength and courage to tell. I am hard pressed to think of a more unrealistic and cruel amendment. I am voting no on 48 and I would love to see your comments.
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