Proposition 115 – Prohibition on Abortion at 22 Weeks

Colorado is one of a handful of states that has no gestational age limit on abortions. Prop 115 would prohibit abortions beginning at 22 weeks of pregnancy in Title 18 Criminal Conduct of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Only the abortion provider, not the woman undergoing the abortion nor others involved peripherally with prescriptions or equipment, could be charged with a crime.

Previous attempts to prohibit abortions in 2008, 2010 and 2014 fell short at the ballot box by wide margins. Those attempts focused on redefining “person” and banning all abortions.

This narrower proposal criminalizes abortions during the 2nd trimester (14 to 26 weeks). Roe v Wade allows states to place reasonable medical regulations beginning in the 2nd trimester to protect the pregnant woman’s health. Only in the 3rd trimester do states have a compelling interest to protect prenatal life.

Prop 115 allows for abortions after 22 weeks for the physical health of the pregnant woman, but not for her mental health.

Recommendation: NO/AGAINST

Prop 115 supporters point out that more and more babies born at 22 weeks survive and that Prop 115 does not punish the pregnant woman. However, prohibiting abortion providers from providing abortions at 22 weeks definitely adversely affects a pregnant woman seeking a 22-week abortion.

Women don’t usually know that they are pregnant until 4 or 5 weeks into their pregnancy (counted from the date of the last menstrual period) at the earliest. This would leave at most about 4 months to figure out the entire abortion process, to get time off work, to gather the fees and to get transportation to the abortion clinic. In places with no access to abortion services, 4 months may not be enough time, especially in the sensitive cases of incest or teen pregnancy.

Developments mid-pregnancy, including learning about fatal fetal abnormalities, can also cause a woman to reevaluate a decision to carry her pregnancy to full term.

During this pandemic, some states have shamefully tried to stop abortions by stating that abortion is not an essential service.

Rather than criminalize abortions at the back end of pregnancy, abortion advocates could widely publicize and fund the freezing of embryos at the front end of pregnancy. Frozen embryos have a good healthy baby success rate, and the family can time the later delivery for when the family is ready to raise a child.

Website for the Yes side – Coalition for Women and Children
https://www.duedatetoolate.com/

Website for the No side – Abortion Access for All
http://voteno115.com/


Approved Ballot Language

Proposition 115 (STATUTORY)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning prohibiting an abortion when the probable gestational age of the fetus is at least twenty-two weeks, and, in connection therewith, making it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine to perform or attempt to perform a prohibited abortion, except when the abortion is immediately required to save the life of the pregnant woman when her life is physically threatened, but not solely by a psychological or emotional condition; defining terms related to the measure including "probable gestational age" and "abortion," and excepting from the definition of "abortion" medical procedures relating to miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy; specifying that a woman on whom an abortion is performed may not be charged with a crime in relation to a prohibited abortion; and requiring the Colorado medical board to suspend for at least three years the license of a licensee whom the board finds performed or attempted to perform a prohibited abortion?

YES/FOR ____
NO/AGAINST ____

Proposition 115 initiative language filed with the Secretary of State
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2019-2020/120FinalCorrected.pdf