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"Change" has been the buzzword for some time in American politics. In the Tuesday, 4 November, election, a number of changes -- besides the offices of President and Congress -- were made.
Colorado rejected the idea that fertilized eggs are persons. While this is not a change, it is a clarification of what the majority of voters in Colorado think.
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| Amendment 48 |
Definition of Person |
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Election: |
General -- 2008 |
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Type: |
Initiative |
Status: Fail (Yes votes: 27.2% - 5:10am MST; 87% of precincts reporting% of precincts reporting) |
| Topic Areas: |
| Civil & Constitutional Law | Health | |
| Summary: |
Amendment 48 proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to:
- define the term "person" to "include any human being from the moment of fertilization"; and
- apply this definition of person to the sections of the Colorado
Constitution that protect the natural and essential rights of persons,
allow open access to courts for every person, and ensure that no person
has his or her life, liberty, or property taken away without due
process of law. |
Washington State decided that people have a right to choose to die:
State second in nation to allow lethal prescriptions
By JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTER
Washington will become the nation's second
state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal prescriptions to terminally
ill patients after voters gave resounding support to a contentious
end-of-life measure.
With more than 1.3 million votes cast, Initiative 1000 led by about 16 percent, winning all but six counties across the state.
"Its time has come. It's as simple as that," former Gov. Booth
Gardner, who poured $470,000 of his personal fortune into the
pro-initiative campaign, said Tuesday night. "People have the right to
have control over the final days of life."
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Animals in California were given certain rights. While this may be off the radar screen of many, Proposition 2 in California will have far-reaching effects:
Proposition 2
Standards for Confining Farm Animals
State of California
Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required
 Pass:
6,064,475 /
63.2% Yes votes ......
3,524,188 /
36.8% No votes
Shall certain farm animals be allowed, for the majority of every
day, to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up and turn
around?
Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs
be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand
up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.
Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful
slaughter, research and veterinary purposes.
Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000
and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.
Potential unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm
businesses, possibly in the range of several million dollars annually.
Potential minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs,
partly offset by increased fine revenue.
- A YES vote on this measure means:
- Beginning in 2015, state law would prohibit, with certain
exceptions, the confinement on a farm of pregnant pigs, calves raised
for veal, and egg-laying hens in a manner that does not allow them to
turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.
- A NO vote on this measure means:
- State law would not contain prohibitions specifically
concerning the confinement of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal,
and egg-laying hens.
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