STATEWIDE COALITION DENOUNCES ABORTION BAN
PROTECT FAMILIES PROTECT CHOICE COALITION PRESS RELEASE February 11, 2007
Protect Families, Protect Choice Coalition Contacts
Kate Horle: (303) 813-7645 (office) / (720) 201-2522 (mobile)
Kathryn Wittneben: (303) 394-1973 ext 12 (office) / (303) 514-9230 (mobile)
Amanda Mountjoy: (303) 333-0844 (office)
STATEWIDE COALITION DENOUNCES ABORTION BAN Calls for policies that preserve women’s right to choose, promote women’s health, and emphasize prevention in reducing the need for abortion DENVER (Feb. 11) – Protect Families, Protect Choice, a statewide coalition of pro-choice organizations, condemns dangerous legislation that would turn back the clock on a woman’s reproductive health care and severely restrict a woman’s right to choose in Colorado. Senate Bill 143, an anti-abortion bill sponsored by Senator Scott Renfroe (R-SD 13) and Representative Kent Lambert (R-HD 14), would ban all abortions in Colorado except those performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. There are no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. “This bill does nothing to reduce the need for abortion, which we all can agree stems largely from unintended pregnancy,” said Kate Horle, co-chair of the statewide Protect Families, Protect Choice coalition. “SB 143 fails to give Colorado women and their families the education, information and services they need to make healthy, informed decisions about when to have a family and to minimize the risk of unintended pregnancy.” Member organizations of the Protect Families, Protect Choice coalition call on the co-sponsors of the bill to focus on moving women’s health care forward, not turning back the clock on women’s right to choose. “Protecting individual freedom and limiting government interference in our private lives is not a Republican or Democratic issue,” said Amanda Mountjoy, spokesperson for PFPC member Republican Majority for Choice in Colorado. “This outrageous piece of legislation focuses on divisive social issues rather than such mainstream Colorado values as individual freedom and limited government. Coloradans believe personal, private decisions about whether and when to have children should be made by women and their families – not the government.” The anti-abortion bill violates a woman’s constitutionally protected right to choose an abortion as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973. It contains no exception for the preservation of the health of the mother, another constitutional requirement determined in Roe and upheld in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Stenberg v. Carhart. The measure is sponsored by Senators Renfroe, Dave Schultheis (R-SD 9), Greg Brophy (R-1), Ted Harvey (R-SD 30), Mike Kopp (R-SD 22), and Josh Penry (R-SD 7); and Representatives Lambert, Kevin Lundberg (R-HD 49), Cory Gardner (R-HD 63), Frank McNulty (R-HD 43) and Jerry Sonnenberg (R-HD 65). “This divisive bill doesn’t even reflect the compassion Coloradans extend to sexual assault survivors – it makes no exception for rape and incest survivors,” said Kathryn Wittneben, co-chair of the Protect Families, Protect Choice coalition. “Instead of sponsoring legislation that doesn’t reflect the mainstream values of Colorado, we should pursue common-sense solutions that strengthen our communities by reducing unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. For example, Colorado would be better served by advancing policies that provide age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education to our children that will empower them to make healthy decisions; ensuring women and their families have access to the tools and resources necessary to lead healthy lives and have healthy children and healthy families.” Protect Families, Protect Choice Coalition: ACLU of Colorado, The Colorado AAUW, Colorado League of Women Voters, Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA), Colorado NOW, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR), Colorado Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Colorado Republican Majority for Choice, Colorado Women’s Agenda, Denver Women’s Commission, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Rocky Mountain Riveters, The White House Project, Women’s Health (Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center), and Women’s Lobby of Colorado ###
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