Colorado Organizers Given Green Light to Collect Signatures to Place a 22-Week Abortion Limit on the Ballot
In July, The Daily Citizen reported on a Colorado pro-life organization that was seeking to end late-term abortion in the state. The organization is seeking to collect enough signatures from Coloradans to place the initiative on the ballot. Fortunately, a Colorado committee recently gave its approval for the measure and signature collection can now begin.
Initiative #120, which is titled “Prohibition on Late-Term Abortions,” would end legal abortions in Colorado after 22-weeks. Though the approval is encouraging, there is still a long way to go for this measure to become law. First, the organizers who are affiliated with the Coalition for Women and Children must collect and submit 124,632 valid signatures for the initiative to be placed on the general election ballot in 2020. The deadline to submit the required number of signatures is March 4, 2020. If a sufficient number of signatures are collected, the voters of Colorado would be able to vote for or against the measure in 2020. To become law, the initiative would need a majority of the voters to approve the measure.
Colorado is one of seven states that has no gestational age limit for abortion. Women are able to legally abort their children for any reason up until birth. Indeed, one abortion clinic in Boulder, Colorado run by Dr. Warren Hern specializes in late-term abortions.
Dr. Warren Hern unsuprisingly released a statement opposing the initative effort. His statement read, “These people have no concern for the health and welfare of the women we are helping. This is anti-abortion madness carried to a logical extreme.” This is ironic considering the Coalition for Women and Children is led by two women. In addition, the measure would punish only the abortionist who performed the abortion by revoking his medical license. The measure explicitly states that the woman who the abortion is performed on cannot be punished under the law.
Since abortion is such a polarizing topic, opposing sides can sometimes find themselves in agreement. This is one such instance. Some pro-life supporters are criticizing the initiative since it wouldn’t go far enough to end all abortions. It’s important to realize that Colorado, a left-leaning state, will not pass a total ban on abortion in the near future. However, this initative provides a substantial opportunity to restrict late-term abortion and save lives. Every pro-life supporter should advocate for this measure and work hard to see the proposal adopted as law.
One of the sponsors of the measure, Erin Behrens explained her support in a statement. “We are going to put a very reasonable limit of 22-weeks, which is about five months into pregnancy. And we think that this reasonable limit will pass overwhelmingly in Colorado, and we will finally be brought into the 21st century. We will finally be among all the other states that have reasonable limits, and we will finally not be the late-term abortion capital of the United States.” Indeed, this measure truly is reasonable considering three-quarters of Americans want abortion limited to the first three months of pregnancy.
In an email to supporters, organizers for the initiative announced they would be holding signing events at four different locations around the state. The email also stated that future events would be announced soon.
To prohibit late-term abortion in Colorado, hundreds of volunteers are needed to gather signatures, and hundreds of thousands of citizens need to speak up and sign the petition. Coloradans should recognize the opportunity that has been placed in front of them, and take action to get this messure on the ballot, and signed into law.
If you live in Colorado and would like to get involved, either by signing the petition or collecting signatures, visit the Due Date Too Late website by clicking here.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zachary Mettler is a writer/analyst for the Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. Mettler earned his Bachelor’s degree from William Jessup University and is an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. In addition to the Daily Citizen, his written pieces have appeared in the Daily Wire, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Townhall, the Daily Signal, the Christian Post, Charisma News and other outlets.
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