Maleah Harris

April 19, 2015

Feminist Theory
Dr. Le'Brian A. Patrick
Response 3: Criminalization of Abortion in Colorado
Last week, Republicans in Colorado "introduced a measure that
would allow the state to bring murder charges in crimes that result in a
loss of pregnancy (Culp-Ressler, 2015)." The Republicans in the state
are attempting to endow "fetuses with the same rights as Colorado
citizens in the state's criminal code (Culp-Ressler, 2015)", which may
be interpreted as legally granting unborn children, at any rate of
gestation, with 'personhood'. Personhood is the belief that the term
'person' should be extended to include unborn children at every stage
in pregnancy up until actual birth. This law takes a pregnant woman's
choice to terminate her pregnancy as a viable reason to relieve her of
her autonomy and punish her for exercising her right to choose. The
state effectively seeks to control the reproductive ability of the women
living within it by punishing those who do not want to keep their
pregnancy, which is one of the foremost issues and concerns in radical
feminism.
The glorification and obligation of women to their biological
reproductivity that is being asserted by the Republican party in
Colorado is the problematic culture that radical feminists are
concerned about. However, the voting base in Colorado has repeatedly
voted against the measure of 'personhood', and in one example, "
Colorado voters resoundingly defeated the measure in November,
marking the third time that residents of the state have rejected

personhood (Culp-Ressler, 2015)." There have been false efforts by the

personhood campaign to further manifest the measure into legality,
such as the "tragedy that befell Colorado resident Heather Surovik,
who miscarried at eight months of pregnancy when a drunk driver
crashed into her car (Culp-Ressler, 2015)" and as a result, "in honor of
the unborn son she lost, the personhood initiative was dubbed the
Brady Amendment. (Culp-Ressler, 2015)." However, there is already
a fetal homicide in place in Colorado that criminally penalizes "assaults
that harm a pregnancy (Culp-Ressler, 2015)." This clearly evidences
that the agenda of 'personhood' is asserted by those who wish to
criminally punish women for rejecting the role of biological
reproduction in the state of Colorado.

Bibliography
Culp-Ressler, T. (2015, April 15). The Perfect Storm May Be Brewing In
Colorado To Pass A Personhood Law. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/04/15/3647323/coloradopersonhood-pregnant-crime/