You may be aware that some Americans are going to be casting votes on… oh, something or other, this week.

In Colorado, they’ll be doing the presidential shtick – but they’ll also be voting on whether to accept an amendment to the State constitution that would extend the definition of “person” to include all humans from the point of fertilisation – and, implicitly, to extend the full protection of the law to the newly-fertilised zygote.

Ballot Title: An amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term “person” to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as “person” is used in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law.

Clearly, the approval of the proposal would have implications for the law on terminations of pregnancy in the State – and, though I’m no world expert on the US constitution, it looks like any such amendment would put the State in a position at odds with that outlined at a Federal level by Roe v Wade.  It’ll be interesting to see how things go.