DENVER - A bill that would have allowed prosecutors to charge someone for the death or injury of an unborn child was rejected by a committee at the state capitol Monday. Many lawmakers saw the bill as a roundabout way to pass a "personhood" law in Colorado.

Previous ballot proposals giving legal rights to fertilized human eggs were overwhelmingly rejected by voters in 2008 and 2010.

After the hearing in which the "Offenses against unborn children bill" was defeated, personhood supporters announced the launch of a new project.

"The Brady Project" is named for Brady Surovik, a boy killed in a car accident just before he was due to be born in the summer of 2012. The project calls for an amendment to the state constitution that would alter the definition of child to include unborn human beings.

The group says the bill would protect both babies and their parents.