On Tuesday, Colorado voters rejected Proposition 115, a measure that would have banned abortions after 22 weeks of gestation. The 22-Week Abortion Ban Initiative was defeated with 59.07% voting against it and 40.93% voting in favor.
“For the fourth time in 12 years, Coloradans have rejected attempts to ban abortion at the ballot, trusting patients and families to make the personal medical decisions that are right for them, without interference from politicians,” said Lucy Olena, the campaign manager for the No on 115 campaign.
The pro-life campaign Due Date Too Late gathered enough signatures in June to place Proposition 115 on the November ballot. The Due Date Too Late initiative came in response to the state legislature defeating two bills that would have banned late-term abortion and mandated medical care for babies born alive during such procedure.
“This measure places a reasonable restriction on abortion after the baby can live outside the mother’s womb, while still allowing a pregnant woman several months to make a choice about her pregnancy. This measure does not criminalize or penalize women in any way. With the Initiative, the goal is to protect women and their babies, give them better options and help them in their difficult circumstances,” the Due Date Too Late website explains.
Meanwhile, Colorado Right to Life denounced Proposition 115, saying that the measure was “the latest in the nearly 50-year effort to regulate murder.”
“Proposition 115 states you cannot kill children older than 22 weeks which inherently legitimizes (i.e., declares legally valid), reauthorizes and reaffirms the killing of younger children. Decades of lost opportunity have passed while regulations have made the slaughter seem more palatable and more humane to the public, politicians, and judges, and pro-lifers have been unwittingly redirected to mending abortion rather than fighting to end abortion,” said the Colorado Right to Life in a statement.
