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Initiative Defining "Person" Enters Circulation

Constitutional Definition of a Person. Fertilized Human Eggs. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced that the proponents of a new initiative may begin collecting petition signatures for their measure.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponents and to county elections officials. The Attorney General's official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

CONSTITUTIONAL DEFINITION OF A PERSON. FERTILIZED HUMAN EGGS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Extends constitutional protections of due process and equal protection to all fertilized human eggs by redefining “person” as including each and every human organism from the commencement of biological development. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potentially significant costs to state and local governments from the establishment of due process and equal protection rights for zygotes, embryos, and fetuses. (13-0020.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1611 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 13-0020.

The proponents for the measure, Walter B. Hoye II, Gilbert Montelongo, Ronnie D. Allen, Harold M. Hervey, Jesse Lee Peterson, George McKinney and Bruce Rivers, must collect signatures of 807,615 registered voters – the number equal to eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election – in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 150 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be collected by April 21, 2014.

The initiative proponents can be reached at (510) 225-4056.

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