Executive Directive, April 2008
Three Months and Counting I’ve been on board at NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado for three months now and the action never stops. We held the Roe v. Wade 35th Anniversary Celebration in mid-January; the Colorado Women’s Legislative Breakfast in mid-February; our 26th Annual Choice Celebration & Auction, “Stand-up for Choice” on March 8th, and Pro-Choice Lobby Day at the Capitol on March 20th. We have had a busy schedule of advocating on behalf of those who believe that every woman deserves the right to control her own body and make her own reproductive health care decisions in whichever way she chooses. On top of all of these events, we've been working day in and day out to advocate for Colorado women in the state legislature. In our work at the Capitol, we've helped passed a Medicaid waiver bill (SB03), which will increase the number of Medicaid recipients who will be eligible for family planning coverage - a key first step in helping more Colorado women access affordable and effective contraception. We've also defeated an onerous anti-choice bill (SB95), that would have burdened women considering abortion by forcing their doctors to deny abortion care until 24 hours after a woman chose to view or not view an ultrasound of her pregnancy. In addition to those successes, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado is on the Steering Committee of the Protect Families Protect Choice Ballot Initiative Committee, making plans, as you read this to mount up to an estimated $2.5 million campaign to fight an Anti-Women's Health Amendment, which would amend the Constitution of the State of Colorado to grant rights from the moment of fertilization. We're working hard to stop this amendment, that, if passed, would indelibly change the fundamental political principles of our state government and put the government smack dab in the middle of the relationship of a woman and her doctor. It would also lay the groundwork to make ALL ABORTIONS ILLEGAL, even in the earliest weeks of pregnancy. Research has shown that many Coloradans don’t believe that this onerous initiative could also outlaw the most common forms of birth control, prohibit in vitro fertilization and ban lifesaving stem cell research. But guess what? It could. We’re proud at NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado to be at the forefront of the fight to protect your reproductive health care choices, the privacy of your relationships with reproductive health care providers, the choices that you make about your family and your life in the privacy of your own home, and your State Constitution. Help us win the fight: join our organization, volunteer with us, contribute to our efforts at whatever level you can, and be strong with us as we advance a full spectrum of reproductive health care choices for you.
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