Colo. pro-life group may get 22-week abortion ban on ballot after submitting 138K signatures to state
A Colorado pro-life group collected over 138,000 signatures in the hopes of getting an initiative on the state ballot to ban late-term abortions in most circumstances.
The Due Date Too Late campaign announced that they turned in the signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday, putting them one step closer to getting their initiative on the ballot.
In order to be added to the Colorado ballot, the proposed measure needs to have at least 124,632 valid signatures. The state has 30 days to review the petitions.
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The campaign noted in a Facebook post on Thursday that they were able to get around 43,000 of the signatures over the past week alone.
“We reached the minimum for submission and are now waiting for an official count. We have the best volunteers in the world! Thanks for speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves,” they stated.
Lauren Castillo, a spokeswoman for the campaign, told Colorado Public Radio that she was “confident” that the measure has “enough to qualify” for the ballot.
“It was an all-volunteer effort,” said Castillo. “I think it was really indicative of the grassroots movement. As word-of-mouth continued to spread, the momentum just continued to build.”
If passed by a majority of Colorado voters, the measure would ban abortions performed after 22 weeks’ gestational age, except when the mother is facing a life-threatening medical emergency.
Fawn Bolak of the pro-abortion group ProgressNow Colorado, denounced the ballot initiative in comments to the website Colorado Politics last month.
“Let’s be clear—there is nothing remotely 'reasonable' about medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care and access,” stated Bolak. “The folks pushing this ban clearly don’t understand the unique, often devastating, circumstances that would lead someone to seek an abortion later in their pregnancy.”
In April 1967, Colorado became the first state to legalize abortion, with then Gov. John Love signing a bill that allowed the procedure in certain circumstances and with the approval of a three-doctor panel.
At present, Colorado does not have any restrictions on late term abortions, though the state does require parental notification and that a licensed doctor perform the procedure.
Last month, the Colorado House of Representatives killed two bills aimed at banning late-term abortion and mandating that abortionists and doctors provide medical care to babies born alive after an abortion.
Both bills died in the Colorado House Veterans and Military Affairs Committee following hours of debate and testimony that included graphic descriptions of abortion.
“You can always count on Democrats to say they'll protect the little guy, except when the little guys weigh 6 pounds and is 19.5 [inches] long,” the Colorado GOP House Caucus lamented on Twitter.
