Why candidates must let voters know their positions on choice
Rocky Mountain News
January 28, 2006 The issue of women's reproductive rights and health care has never been more important in Colorado. This November, voters will be electing a new governor and state legislature. If Roe v. Wade is overturned or gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court - which is quite likely - these officials will decide whether Colorado will support a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices or whether the state will revert to its old 1967 criminal abortion statute. The increasing politicization makes it extremely difficult for women to make informed decisions about their own reproductive health without government interference. And for the nearly 1 million women in Colorado of childbearing age, this is not a political decision but a life-altering one.
A woman's right to control her reproductive destiny, like other fundamental rights derived from our Constitution, is not "just another issue." Rather it is a fundamental freedom that can no more be set aside, ignored or compromised than other civil rights. Voters need to know whether their political candidates support women's reproductive rights and health care. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado wants to ensure that women have the right to a legal, safe abortion; at the same time we are working to make abortions rare by helping to decrease unintended pregnancies. Our goal is to ensure that abortions are legal, safe and rare. As voters decide who to support in the upcoming elections, it's important to know where candidates stand on these issues: Roe v. Wade could be overturned or gutted soon: Voters have a right to know whether candidates support or oppose legislation that gives women the legal right to obtain an abortion. The replacement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor by a more conservative justice (the current nominee has written not only of his opposition to the Roe decision, but also outlined strategies for overturning it), makes this a likely proposition, not a hypothetical question. This means the next governor and state legislature may be in a position to determine if Colorado women will continue to make their own choices, or if the government will ban abortions and treat women and doctors as criminals. Compassionate care for rape victims: In Colorado, one in four women has experienced a sexual assault. The current governor vetoed compassionate care for rape victims by denying them access to information about emergency contraception, a method of preventing pregnancy after an assault. Do 2006 candidates for governor and the legislature support or oppose giving rape victims access to emergency contraception at the hospital to which they are taken? Pharmacists filling prescriptions: As stories mount about pharmacists who will not fill a woman's prescription for contraception, voters need to know where candidates stand on ensuring that the medicines prescribed by their doctors are available at their local pharmacy. Prevention first: The best way to reduce the incidence of abortion is to ensure access to information and services that prevent unintended pregnancy. Voters need to know what steps will be taken to ensure that the half-million women who need contraceptive services in Colorado have access to them - a step that will dramatically reduce the number of abortions in Colorado. Practical, medically accurate sex education: Young people need and deserve complete, accurate, culturally and age- appropriate information about their reproductive and sexual health, including abstinence, pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS prevention. This information should come from their parents and be reinforced by their educators. Voters need to know whether candidates will help to provide young people with the information they need to protect their health. Criminalization of service providers: At the same time we are electing state leaders, it is likely there will be a proposal on the ballot in Colorado to make it a felony for a doctor to provide some abortion services. Voters deserve to know whether candidates support criminalizing health-care providers. More than 60 percent of Coloradans support these fundamental rights. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado will continue working with citizens to ensure these freedoms aren't taken away. We urge voters to carefully consider the positions and records of all candidates on the critical issue of women's reproductive rights and health care. -Kathryn Wittneben, Excutive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado
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