As 9News reports:

The group Colorado For Equal Rights is trying to get a measure on a Colorado ballot that would essentially ban abortion statewide.

The group defines a person as any human being from the moment of fertilization. A co-sponsor of the bill says the group’s definition of a life’s beginning is the premise for the initiative.

“I am not against a woman’s right to choose. I don’t believe that’s the issue here,” said Kristine Burton, Colorado For Equal Rights…

…A representative of several groups opposing the ballot initiative says an appeal is planned.

“This initiative takes a dangerous approach in letting the government make personal, moral and medical decisions for women and their families,” said Jacy Montoya, Executive Director of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights.

The measure would also outlaw many forms of contraception that prevent pregnancy between fertilization and implantation.

“If an egg is fertilized, we would protect it from the moment of fertilization,” said Burton.

Opponents question the definition of life provided by the bill’s co-sponsors.

“If you’re from a different faith tradition or different moral tradition, fertilization is not when life begins,” said Montoya.

Proponents say their measure would protect the constitutional rights of a human being, before he or she is born.

“If an unborn child, from the moment of fertilization, is a human being, they deserve protection under the laws just like any other human being,” said Burton.

I understand the political strategy of this initiative, because if you define a fertilized egg as a human being then you’ve got a good argument that abortion is murder. Nevertheless, I don’t think this measure has a snowball’s chance in hell of passing if it makes it on the ballot, if for no other reason than the fact that Colorado is actually a pro-choice state (by a very slim margin).

The other reason I don’t think it will pass is because, quite frankly, it sounds silly. According to that last quote above from Burton, a fertilized egg should have the same protection under the laws just like any other human being.

Let me repeat that: A fertilized egg should be considered no different than you or me.

That’s an interesting idea, but it brings up a lot of questions. Does that mean that the egg will need to apply for a social security card? Can you claim the egg as a dependent on your taxes, even if you won’t give birth for several months after the new year? If you have a miscarriage, do you report it as a suicide? Does the census bureau have to reconfigure its population estimates to include eggs?

Sure, those questions may sound silly, but you can’t claim that a fertilized egg is a human being and then pick and choose which rights and laws it must obey. If an egg is really to be thought of as a human being, then what are the answers to those questions above? Yes, yes, yes and yes.

The idea that a fertilized egg is a human being is a quaint idea, but it’s not as simple as opponents of abortion would like it to sound. If you declare an egg to be a human being, there are a lot more implications than whether or not you will be successful in trying to ban abortion.