Colorado Catholic bishops are urging pro-lifers this to fight against a radical pro-abortion bill that would allow unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to birth.
The Democrat-controlled state legislature almost certainly will pass pro-abortion House Bill 1279 this spring, and Gov. Jared Polis said he supports it. The bill would make abortion a “fundamental right” under state law and deny all rights and legal protections to any “fertilized egg, embryo or fetus.”
However, outrage is growing. Republican lawmakers held a record-breaking debate to delay the bill before it passed the state House, and hundreds of pro-lifers protested Saturday at the Capitol.
The Archdiocese of Denver also posted a message on its website urging Catholics to speak out against lawmakers’ push to “codify abortion on demand for 40 weeks of a pregnancy,” and included a link with more details from the Colorado Catholic Conference.
“This HB 1279 violates the fundamental human right to life for millions of preborn children,” the bishops’ conference said in a statement. “And it is out of touch with the desires of millions of Colorado voters. We must show Colorado lawmakers that they legislate on behalf of the people – and the people of Colorado do not want to live in the most radical abortion state in the country.”
Colorado already allows unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to birth, and it is a destination state for late-term abortions. The Catholic News Agency reports late-term abortionist Warren Hern has aborted hundreds of viable, late-term unborn babies since the 1990s, including several at 38 and 39 weeks gestation.
Speaking before the House vote Monday, state Rep. Tonya Van Beber, R-Weld, said her life is an example of how every child should be protected and valued, CNN reports.
Born prematurely at 22 weeks of pregnancy, “it was a miracle that I was able to survive,” Van Beber said. “Even when a baby is born in the second trimester, it is possible for them to not only live but thrive. My life had value from the moment of conception and so do all lives. We must always fight to stand up for every precious life, no matter the convenience. This bill gives people the right to take away a precious life for any reason.”
ACTION ALERT: Contact members of the Colorado Senate and urge them to oppose this pro-abortion bill.
Democrat lawmakers argue that the bill simply would reinforce the state’s current abortion laws in response to the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade this year.
State House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, said it also would stop cities and municipalities from banning abortions through local ordinances such as others have done through the Sanctuary City for the Unborn movement, according to The Colorado Sun.
State Rep. Terri Carver, R-Colorado Springs, responded by slamming the bill as the “most extreme pro-abortion bill in the country,” adding: “It apparently is not enough to just authorize and provide abortion right up to the moment of birth. Now we must take all this body of law and impose it on every public entity in every way possible.”
Pro-life advocates said the bill also would get rid of one of the few abortion regulations the state has: its parental notification law for minors, and could deny justice to pregnant mothers and unborn babies who are injured or killed in domestic violence or other crimes.
According to the Colorado Catholic Conference, the bill would:
- Allow on-demand abortion for the full 40 weeks of pregnancy;
- Allow abortion discrimination based on sex, race, or disability;
- Could remove the parent notification requirement if their minor has an abortion;
- Enshrine in law that “a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent or derivative rights under” state law;
- Prohibit regulation of abortion based on the health of the woman or her baby.
Colorado is very liberal politically, and pro-life advocates have had a difficult time passing any pro-life laws there. Even fetal homicide laws to punish criminals who kill unborn babies in situations unrelated to abortion have been rejected repeatedly by the state legislature.
It is one of the few states with no limits on abortions, and abortionists there openly advertise abortions in the third trimester. In 2020, state voters rejected a ballot measure that would have protected viable, pain-capable unborn babies by banning late-term abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy.
ACTION ALERT: Contact members of the Colorado Senate and urge them to oppose this pro-abortion bill.
