Ballot initiative hopes to ban late- term abortions

Abortion in Colorado would be banned after 22 weeks through an initiative advocates hope to place on statewide ballots next year.

The only exception would be if a doctor determines a mother’s life is at risk. In all other cases, performing an abortion after 22 weeks 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 proposed initiative was filed Friday by Erin Behrens and Giuliana Day. Behrens said on Facebook that she began pushing legislators for a late- term abortion ban 10 months ago, when she was in the advanced stages of pregnancy.

Dismayed by Republicans unable to pass restrictions and Democrats unwilling to, she opted for a ballot initiative instead.

“A few years ago, I found out that Colorado is one of the few places in the world where abortion is legal up to birth for any reason,” Behrens told The Denver Post on Tuesday.

“It did not make sense that we would allow this, while 43 other states, including California and New York, did not.”

The state’s title board will consider the proposed initiative June 19. Proponents of what would be called Initiative 108 cannot print petitions or collect signatures until the board signs off.

Behrens, who does not identify as either a Democrat or Republican, said she has already begun organizing supporters. The initiative will make sense to a majority of Coloradans, she said.

“Many in Colorado would consider themselves pro- choice in the first months of pregnancy, but draw a line when a baby can survive outside the mother and feel pain,” Behrens said.

“A recent Gallup poll concluded 71 percent of Americans believe in some limitations on abortion and a recent Marist poll concluded that even six in 10 Democrats oppose abortion after 20 weeks.”

Colorado, which legalized abortion in 1967, is one of seven states that does not restrict abortion at any stage in a pregnancy.

Abortion rights advocates say that is how it should be.

“I’m disappointed to see another attempt at banning abortion in the state of Colorado,” said Karen Middleton, executive director of NARAL Pro- Choice Colorado. “We have seen three anti- abortion measures attempted in the last decade, and they’ve been defeated soundly.”

Abortion has been thrust back into the national spotlight this year by a series of state efforts.

Alabama, Louisiana and others have limited the procedure, while New York and Maine have expanded abortion access. Legal challenges to the new laws could take years to be resolved.

“Abortion care access is abortion care access; it shouldn’t be tied to stages or these sort of restrictions,” Middleton said.

“I think we should just let the doctors and the families that are impacted make those decisions without government interference.”

A 2020 ballot measure would be an expensive distraction, she said, during an important election in which abortion rights supporters want to unseat Republican Sen. Cory Gardner and President Donald Trump.

“Having to fight an abortion ban on top of that could take some people’s eye off the ball,” she said.