NARAL PRO-CHOICE COLORADO SECURES PRO-CHOICE MAJORITY
Victory Poignant as U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments against Federal Abortion Ban DENVER – NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado successfully won 10 of its top 11 targeted state legislative races to elect pro-choice officials to the Colorado General Assembly. There will be four new pro-choice legislators in the state House and two in the state Senate beginning in January. "By once again electing a pro-choice majority to the state Legislature on November 7th, Coloradans reaffirmed their belief that personal, private health care decisions that affect women's lives should be made by women, not politicians," said Kathryn Wittneben, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. Colorado voters elected 44 of 61 pro-choice candidates endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado's Political Action Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, November 7. Through its Choice Vote '06 campaign, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado mobilized more than 120,000 pro-choice voters throughout the state in support of legislative incumbents and newcomers who support a woman's fundamental right to choose which health care services are appropriate for her and her family. This is the second continuous election cycle that Coloradans elected a pro-choice majority in both the state Senate and the state House of Representatives. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado’s Choice Vote '06 campaign mobilized 1,100 volunteers across the state to support pro-choice candidates. More than 200 volunteers helped get out the choice vote during the final four days, including Election Day. "Women's freedom to make personal, private health care decisions is under attack at the federal level, and Coloradans understand that women’s right to choose could come down to the states – which is why it was so critical for us to maintain a pro-choice majority in the General Assembly," said Wittneben. "This pro-choice victory in Colorado is especially important: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments the day after the election in two cases that could overturn decades of national support for legal abortions and further erode the rights guaranteed under Roe v. Wade in 1973." NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, along with its national affiliate, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, has signed an amicus curiae brief in support of Planned Parenthood Federal of America in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood Federation of America is challenging the Federal Abortion Ban signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 5, 2003. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in both Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood and a related case, Gonzales v. Carhart, which also challenges the ban. "If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, Colorado's legislature and courts will be left to make crucial decisions regarding women's access to reproductive health care and family-planning services. The prospect that Roe could be overturned is why it was so critical to turn out the vote in support of pro-choice candidates in this election," Wittneben said. NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado (NPCC) is the political action arm of the pro-choice movement in Colorado. NPCC has more than 30,000 supporters statewide and works to develop and sustain a constituency that uses the political process to guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive health choices, including preventing unintended pregnancies, bearing healthy children and choosing legal abortion. ###FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: November 27, 2006
Contact: Kathryn Wittneben, 303.394.1973
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