June 03, 2013 06:58 AM UTC

Radio ad aims to boost Personhood-backed fetal-homicide ballot initiative

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• by: Jason Salzman

(If at first–or second or third–you don't succeed… – promoted by Colorado Pols)

An anti-abortion organization has launched a radio campaign to publicize a ballot initiative, referred to by supporters as the "Brady Amendment," that would allow law enforcement officials to prosecute people who commit crimes against “unborn human beings.”

"A main goal of [the radio ad] is to let people know the Brady amendment is out there, so people could sign it and get a petition for themselves," said Bob Enyart, a spokesperson for Colorado Right to Life. "It's an awareness thing."

Colorado Right to Life has a $4,600 budget for the ad, which is airing on Christian station KRKS and conservative talk station KNUS, Enyart said.

Here's the text of the ad:

An abortionist has been convicted of murder. Kermit Gosnell’s house of horrors closed. But Colorado kills many kids from conception through late term. Like Brady Surovik, killed by a drunk driver, these kids are persons. Yet listen to Princeton University’s Peter Singer.

"No, I don’t think it’s problematic to say that a four-month old baby is not actually a person. I think that’s simply true.”

This is widespread, and even taints the White House. It’s up to us to stop this taking of innocent life.

The University of Colorado’s Michael Tooley advocates both abortion and infanticide. Discover Magazine defends the evolution of infanticide. The New York Times published a call to kill newborns. So did the Journal of Medical Ethics.

It’s up to us to stop the horror. Sign the pro-life Brady Amendment. It’s urgent. Call any Colorado Personhood group to get a petition, or just go to AVoiceForBrady.com. That’s avoiceforbrady.com.

Listen to the radio ad here, as aired on KNUS May 30.

In April, activists started collecting signatures to put the fetal-homicide measure, which is backed by a Personhood USA, on the 2014 ballot in Colorado. 

"We're doing this because we sense this urgency that people, who get a pass from people like you, are calling for infanticide," Enyart told me. "They call for infanticide is gaining momentum. We're trying to wake up people who've a bit complacent, pro-lifers and Christians."

Enyart wasn't able to say if the ad has produced more signatures on petitions, but he said: "I've had people tell me how excited they are to hear a great ad on KNUS. And they didn't know it was my voice on the ad."

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains has described the fetal homicide initiative, which is officially titled "Definition of Person and Child," as another attempt to codify personhood in Colorado.

Asked to comment on the CRTL's radio ad, Planned Parenthood of he Rocky Mountains spokeswoman Monica McCafferty emailed me:

“Gosnell ran a criminal enterprise, not a health care facility. Unfortunately opponents of safe and legal abortion have seized on this case in the hope that it would fuel their agenda of restricting access to abortion—and ultimately banning it outright. If there's one thing everyone observing this case can agree on, it's that all women, regardless of means, deserve access to high-quality health care delivered by licensed healthcare professionals who adhere to the most rigorous professional standards, including providing emergency care. That clearly did not happen at Gosnell's facility.

“Ultimately, the lesson of the Gosnell case is that we must have and enforce laws that protect access to safe and legal abortion; we must reject misguided laws that will limit women’s options. The Brady Amendment, as with previous ‘personhood’ attempts officially rejected by Colorado voters twice now at the ballot, could potentially outlaw various forms of birth control. We know increasing access to affordable birth control helps decrease the need for abortion. Let’s focus on policies that actually help women.”

The text of the initiative doesn't define the phrase “unborn human beings."

Colorado Right to Life's radio ad appears to be the first ad campaign for a 2014 ballot initiative.