In November, the citizens of Colorado, USA, will be asked to vote on the following proposition, while voting for McCain or Obama.
"The Human Life Amendment, also known as the personhood amendment, says the words "person" or "persons" in the state constitution should "include any human being from the moment of fertilization." If voters agreed, legal experts say, it would give fertilized eggs the same legal rights and protections to which people are entitled."
The defendant is in court. A pharmacist who supplied a 'morning after' pill, she is accused of being an accessory to murder.
Defendant: (taking an earbud and rubbing it against the inside of her mouth: shows it to the court). "There, now I'm a mass-murder. All these cells have my full complement of DNA. This bud is chock-full of persons and they're all gonna die!"
Prosecutor: (who amazingly knows some biology). "You're trying to confuse the jury. Those cells are from your cheek. They've had key genes switched off."
Defendant: (thinks: 'thanks a bundle: that makes a difference?'). "Actually, some of them are stem cells".
Judge (summing up to the jury). "The state law leaves me with no choice. This is as bad a case of serial murder as I've ever seen. If you do your duty, the pharmacist will fry."
