Activists are submitting six new ballot initiatives to limit abortions

Two women who want to ban abortions past 22 weeks in Colorado aren’t giving up after their first stab at language for a proposed ballot initiative was rejected by the Secretary of State’s Office for a procedural error.

Erin Behrens and Giuliana Day are in the process of submitting six new proposals for statewide initiatives that would ban abortions past 22 weeks except in cases where the woman’s physical life was at risk.

Performing an abortion for any other reason would be a Class 3 felony, on par with second-degree murder or vehicular homicide and punishable by up to a dozen years in prison.

The draft initiatives have a lot of similarities, but they do have a few important differences. One of them contains a “provision for survival” that would require any approved abortion past 22 weeks be performed in a way that “provides the best opportunity for the fetus to survive.”

They also differ on how long a doctor’s license would be suspended if caught violating the law. And some of them contain a section that states women seeking an abortion past 22 weeks would not be subject to criminal penalties.

The initiatives come at a time when Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains is considering expanding both its numbers of Colorado clinics and abortion services to those seeking the procedure later in pregnancy. The nonprofit told The Denver Post this month that there has been a steady increase in women traveling from other states for abortions.

Colorado is one of a handful of states that has no legal restrictions on when an abortion can be performed, while many other states have tightened abortion restrictions and regulations in recent years.

Colorado’s Office of Legislative Legal Services, which drafts the formal language for all citizen initiatives, plans to review the proposals Aug. 2 and make suggestions on what should be changed.

The Secretary of State’s Office is the next step before signature-gathering can begin.