October 14, 2008 12:45 PM
Crystal Clinkenbeard of 'Protect Families, Protect Choices', which opposes Amendment 48
Mark_Wolf(Q) Welcome Crystal Clinkenbeard of Protect Families, Protect Choices. Thanks for joining us today.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) It is my pleasure, especially if y'all will be patient with my typing and fear of technology.
Mark_Wolf(Q) How did Protect Families, Protect Choices come to be created?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) It is a coalition of about 80 state and naitonal groups. Each group knew it wanted to fight Amendment 48, definition of a person, because it was dangerous. We knew that together we'd be more effective.
Mark_Wolf(Q) Those who support Amendment 48 say it wouldn't outlaw abortion. What does your group believe?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) The NO on 48 campaign knows that Amendment 48 would outlaw abortion in Colorado, even for rape and incest survivors. We think it is very strange that they'd try to claim that Amendment 48 is not about banning abortion and challenging Roe.
LetsThink(Q) Ms. Clinkenbeard: will your group reduce the 4,000 abortions each day?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Members of the NO on 48 Campaign are working everyday to reduce the number of abortions in Colorado -- through access to birth control and sex education. Amendment 48, on the other hand, will do nothing to reduce the need for abortion in Colorado...and it will do so many other damaging things to the health care system.
JamieLC08(Q) What would it mean to individuals that use oral contraception, if this amendment is passed? I have heard rumors that this amendment bans birth control.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) It isn't a rumor. Amendment 48 grants a fertilized egg the same legal rights that you and I enjoy. Some methods of birth control, like the Pill, can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. Amendment 48 could ban commonly used birth control methods.
LetsThink(Q) What number do you expect to achieve?? And specifically how? Please be specific.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) It would be great if you could be more specific. Birth control and sex education are proven to prevent unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. Extreme constitutional amendments, like Amendment 48, are not. So, what information can I provide to help you?
JamieLC08(Q) Crystal do you feel that there is STRONG opposition to this amendment?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Thanks for asking. The NO on 48 Campaign enjoys really strong support from across the state and country. The Colorado Medical Society, the Colorado Gynecological-Obstetrical Society, and the Colorado Bar Association oppose Amendment 48. Voters are really nervous about sweeping constiutional amendments, like Amendment 48. And, Colorado voters have a long history of rejecting these intrusions into personal, private decision making.
LetsThink(Q) Are you dodging the question? Or do you have no answer to the 4,000 abortions daily??
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) There is no doubt: the United States has a huge problem with unintended pregnancies. About half of all pregnanies in the US are unintended, and about 40% of those end in terminations. The real question is -- what can we do to prevent unintended pregnancy? Amendment 48 is not part of the solution. In fact, by outlawing methods of birth control, Amendment 48 would be part of the problem.
JamieLC08(Q) Wouldn't that (effect on birth control) only create problems in relation to over-population, and parents being able to take care of their children financially? We are already seeing that the number of single-income, single-parent homes are increasing, wouldn't this amendment just add to the economic crisis?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) At a time when families are struggling to secure basic health care, it is outrageous that a single-issue minority would make it harder to practice medicine in Colorado. Colorado doctors are terrified of Amendment 48 because it is a non-scientific, non-medical definition inserted into the state constituion. I'm not sure I have a great answer to the question about adding to the economic crisis, but Amendment 48 would take away options for families who are trying to be responsible and plan their families by banning birth control.
Mark_Wolf(Q) Proponents say they have science on their side. What's your rebuttal?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Science is not on the side of Amendment 48. There is no scientific or medical consensus about when life begins. The mainstream medical community in Colorado is firmly opposed to Amendment 48.
LetsThink(Q) Are you for birth control, but against abortion??
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) The NO on 48 Campaign is for families being able to make medical decisions with their doctors. We are for helping families get the medical care they need, without government, the courts, and lawyers interfering. Of course, we are for efforts to help families plan their pregnancies and avoid unintended pregnancy.
Mark_Wolf(Q) When do you think a person becomes a person?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) That's a great question. Members of the campaign coalition would have different answers to when a person becomes a person. The thing that unites our campaign is that inserting this definition into the Colorado Constitution is a bad idea.
Dan(Q) Was this put on the ballot this year strictly as a way to help John McCain get Colorado's electoral votes?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Gosh, I wouldn't dare speak for the proponents of Amendment 48. In the past, Repubublicans, Democrats, and Independents have united to defeat ballot measures that intrude into personal family medical decision-making. Again, a broad-based bi-partisan coalition has formed to defeat Amendment 48. There are certainly folks who support Senator McCain who oppose Amendment 48. Whether these gimmicky ballot initiatives push voters one way or another will have to be analyzed after the election.
LetsThink(Q) How did your group come up with 'breathing' as the beginning of Life???? Is that view supportable, or just arbitrary to fit your agenda (killing babies).
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Yowsers. I object to your characterization of the NO on 48 Campaign's agenda. Even Justice Scalia recently said in a 60 Minutes interview that he thought the 14th Amendment was meant to apply to "living walking around people." (Or something close to that.) It is incredibly hard to describe a blanket time when constitutional rights should apply. Reasonable people disagree passionately about when life begins. Amendment 48 does nothing to resovlve that difficult social issue. Instead, it is more divisive. That kind of decision needs to be left to individuals to follow their own moral, philosophical beliefs. It doesn't belong in the Colorado Constitution.
Arn(Q) Similar issues are on the ballot in three states this year. Do you think we're going to see more on this issue?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Amendment 48 is clearly part of a national strategy. The Thomas More Law Center tried to get it in the ballot in Georgia, Montana, and Oregon, too. At the NO on 48 Campaign, our hope is that Colorado voters will reject Amendment 48 by a broad enough margin that these extreme groups will not come back. On the other hand, Coloradans had to fight off intrusive measures in 2006 (failed to get on the ballot), 2000, 1998...so, all we can do is keep fighting and educating voters.
ILoveChipotle(Q) But the constitution does need to protect the people and that is exactly what 48 would do - protect people no matter how small.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Colorado law protects people. When situations arise, and our laws are found not to be sufficient, we can look for statutory fixes that will be flexible. Amendment 48 doesn't protect people. It gives fertilized eggs the same rights you and I enjoy. Really, it harms people. Like a woman who has cancer, she may find that she's not able to receive life saving medical treatment because it could harm a fertilized egg.
JamieLC08(Q) Establishing rights for fertilized eggs eliminates a woman's right to make personal, private decisions about her own body and her health. A woman should have the right to make decisions about her reproductive health with her doctor and family without governmental interference.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Women and families should be able to face a medical crisis without the interference of government, the courts, and lawyers. Amendment 48 is an extreme measure being pushed by a narrow minority in Colorado, and it just goes too far. (Thank you for your eloquent summary.)
LetsThink(Q) Is your group using 'fear tactics', to retain the abortion rights?? It sure sounds like it. Is it wrong for citizens to stand up to protect the innocent unborn?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) It is wrong to prevent women and families from receiving the medical treatment they need. It is wrong to put the government, courts, and families into difficult medical decisions. Pointing out that Amendment 48 would ban abortion, even for rape and incest survivors, isn't a scare tactic -- it is a fact. Pointing out that this could prevent women from receiving medical treatment, is a fact.
cassidy22(Q) I am opposed to Amendment 48, but wonder, if it passes, who represents these "people"? I am currently pregnant, and wonder who I have to consult in order to ensure the baby I am carrying gets its say, and how that would affect MY life (as I am a person, too)
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) A lot of people are asking the same questions you've asked. There is no precedent for Amendment 48 -- no other state has this language in its constitution. Lawyers are asking: does every fertilized egg get its own court appointed guardian? What will this do to inheritance rights? Amendment 48 grants a fertilized egg rights equal to yours. That's why it is a medical and legal nightmare.
ILoveChipotle(Q) It is wrong to vote/not vote for issues (or legislate) based on the absolute extremes of the situation. The cancer example you gave is an extreme situation. I fear that millions of babies will continue to be murdered because of groups like yours keep throwing out "What Ifs"
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Doctors don't think these examples are extreme. That's why they are opposing Amendment 48. Their concerns go much deeper...Amedment 48 could be used to criminalize routine medical practice, too. A common example is a woman with an ectopic (or tubal) pregnancy. The only way to treat it is to remove the pregnancy. Amendment 48 just doesn't contain any exceptions to protect the life and health of women.
cassidy22(Q) How do you suggest that folks who propose this amendment respond to those who claim by opposing it, we are supporting abortions (which I do not think is the case)?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Lots of people who consider themselves anti-choice/pro-life oppose Amendment 48. Consider Bob Schaffer, the National Right to Life, and the Colorado Catholic Conference. Folks oppose Amendment 48 because it is an extreme policy with truly dangerous legal consequences.
jriger(Q) If this amendment passes, would a pregnant woman be able to use the HOV lane? These sorts of potential consequences make this measure seem far-fetched.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) If a fertilized egg is considered a person, and has full constitutional rights, then a whole host of extreme possibilites present themselves. No one knows the answers to these questions, even the proponents claim that the courts will have to answer them later. Your question is an example of one of the ways that Amendment 48 could tie up Colorado courts for years.
LetsThink(Q) Is it ever morally wrong to kill an unborn baby? Who gets to decide that? Should God have a say??
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) That is a question for individuals, their doctors, and their Gods. It certainly isn't a question that the NO on 48 Campaign can answer. Are there consequences of Amendment 48 that you are willing to say are morally wrong? Like a woman with cancer who may not be able to receive treatment because it could hurt a fertilized egg.
JamieLC08(C) It is extrememly inportant to look at all the "What Ifs". It truly depends upon the situation. In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, would you (proponents) rather die yourself or remove the ferilized egg that hasn't yet formed a brain, or heart, or can't breathe or speak? Think of it as a tumor in a sense, it is tissue with cells just as a fertilized egg is. Wouldn't you want to remove the thing that could cause you to die?
LetsThink(Q) Why is she calling us 'anti-choice' .....instead of 'pro-life'??? More important, why do they avoid the term 'pro-abortion', and prefer 'pro-choice'?? Isn't that an obvious deception tactic?? She uses the terms 'extreme' and 'dangerous.' Isn't performing an abortion 'extreme' and 'dangerous'?
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) The NO on 48 Campaign is interested in making sure that women, their doctors, and their families are able to make personal medical decisions. And, we are interested in protecting the ablilty of the Colorado legal system to function. Amendment 48 is an extreme measure, and the first of its kind. I didn't mean for my language to offend.
ILoveChipotle(Q) Again - you throw out "what ifs" but you don't offer any facts. Less than 1% of abortions occur because of incest or rape. Adoption is a perfectly legitimate option, that doesn't involve murder. A large majority of abortions occur because of an "oops" & it's inconvenient to be pregnant. Your anti-life/prochoice group is just trying to preserve abortion-on-demand.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Rape and incest survivors do not think that they are insignificant. Amendment 48 affects far more than the divisive abortion debate. It has far-reaching consequences for important life decisions. It affects couples who are trying to responsibly plan their pregnancies by using birth control. It affects couples trying to conceive through in vitro fertilization. That's why RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association opposes Amendment 48. It could be used to ban stem cell research. Check out www.VoteNo48.org for a full list of the organizations that oppose it.
JamieLC08(C) The essence of this amendment says that a woman or her family does not have the RIGHT TO CHOOSE to take contraception or to eliminate an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion aside, this amendment is taking away a persons right to choose. Isn't America founded on certain freedoms, the right to choose in this case?
Mark_Wolf(Q) We're at the hour. Thanks to Crystal Clinkenbeard of Protect Families, Protect Choice. And thanks to all who participated for the excellent questions.
Crystal_Clinkenbeard(A) Thank you. I appreciated the chance to visit with you. If you need more information, please visit www.VoteNo48.org. There are organizational statements from the Colorado OB-GYNs, RESOLVE, and the Colorado Bar which are more eloquent than I am.
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