ballot initiatives feature 2008

Here's something you still may not know about Colorado's "personhood amendment" on the ballot - chances are you or your own family will be affected if this crazy proposal passes.

"Sarah's Law" is the third attempt to get California voters to say yes to parental notification. But there is no "Sarah" and government mandated parental notification won't improve communication between parents and teens.

Tiffany Campbell of South Dakota talks about her activism against the abortion ban, and how legal abortion allowed her to have her baby. Also: debate analysis, and the question of Sarah Palin and feminism.

Follow Amanda Marcotte on Twitter, @amandamarcotte

Although it's hard to imagine the American public tolerating the medical neglect of women in the name of protecting life, Colorado's Amendment 48 would use the force of law to ensure that women give birth to non-viable babies rather than aborting them.

Antiabortion activists claim that state laws requiring parental involvement for minors have been a major contributing factor to declining abortion rates in the United States. Studies prove them wrong.

If Colorado's proposed constitutional amendment to bestow legal rights on fertilized eggs passes this November, the state should look to Nicaragua for a model of likely effects of an abortion ban.

Proponents of the South Dakota abortion ban argue that the health exception protects women's well-being. But the amendment would force physicians to make medical decisions with their attorneys, rather than with their patients.

In November, Californians may be voting on a constitutional amendment requiring parental notification for teens seeking abortion care. The law may seem harmless, but in reality, its intention is to decrease instances of abortion by promoting parental intervention in teens' medical care.