Colorado’s Rejection of Extreme Anti-Choice Ballot Measure Marks Major Pro-Choice Victory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 4, 2008
Colorado’s Rejection of Extreme Anti-Choice Ballot Measure Marks Major Pro-Choice Victory
Washington, DC – Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, praised the leaders of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado and their state-based allies for leading the successful campaign to defeat Amendment 48—an extreme anti-choice ballot measure that would have outlawed abortion and threatened birth control and stem-cell research by establishing legal protections for fertilized eggs.
"Tonight's victory belongs to the vast majority of Coloradans who acted on their pro-choice values and rejected this extreme abortion ban,” Keenan said. “Coloradans’ common sense prevailed. Voters understood that this proposal would open the door to more government interference in personal, private decisions. In the spirit of this tremendous grassroots victory in the Rocky Mountain West, we will take the valuable lessons learned in Colorado to combat similar attacks on privacy that we are likely to see in other states. Anti-choice extremists refuse to take no for an answer, even when they lose by wide margins. We will work at every turn to stand up against copycat attacks on privacy and freedom in other parts of the country and achieve more resounding pro-choice victories like the one Colorado voters delivered tonight.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado was an early leader in the state-based coalition that successfully defeated Amendment 48. Emilie C. Ailts, executive director of the Denver-based organization, said, “We knew Colorado was a pro-choice state before Amendment 48; the defeat of this dangerous amendment simply reinforces the mainstream Colorado belief that personal, private health-care decisions should be made by women in consultation with their doctors and families and in keeping with their own religious beliefs. Coloradans have sent a clear message to anti-choice extremists: Divisive attacks on a woman’s right to choose are unacceptable in our state; instead, Coloradans want policymakers to focus on commonsense, common-ground strategies to reduce the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancy. That’s why NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado will continue its work to promote policies to ensure all Colorado women maintain access to the full range of reproductive health-care services.”
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Contact: Ted Miller and Kathryn Prael, 202.973.3032.
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