From State Rep Daniel Kagan (D):
This morning, on a party line vote, Colorado House Republicans passed a bill imposing "person hood".
The party-line vote was 33-32.
HB12-1130, sponsored by Rep. Janak Joshi (Republican), would create a new class of crime victim – “an unborn member of the species homo sapiens.”
Statutes already exist in Colorado imposing additional penalties on perpetrators who knew, or should have known, that their victims were pregnant women. But the Joshi bill would allow murder charges to be filed against someone who causes a miscarriage.
Colorado voters have twice overwhelmingly rejected proposed constitutional amendments that would confer “personhood” rights on fetuses, and many organizations have expressed concerns about the potential effects of the bill.
Even the Colorado Catholic Conference declined to support it.
Rep. Daniel Kagan of House District 3 has become an outspoken advocate for human rights issues, from gay marriage, to pro-choice, to developmental disabilities, to worker's rights for rural shepherds. Kagans family history includes family members who were victims of the Holocaust. Kagan's facebook status has become a popular place for women all over Colorado to look for updates on women's rights issues in the legislature. This morning, Representative Kagan did not disappoint his supporters, posting this timely update during one of his breaks.
Time to organize.