DENVER — Colorado will remain one of only four states that allows abortions with no restrictions, including all the way up to full term.
Proposition 115, which would have banned abortion in Colorado after 22 weeks of gestation, was defeated by more than one-half million votes, as of Wednesday afternoon.
The proposition was one of the most contentious ballot items this election season, with pro-choice advocates arguing it takes away vital health decisions of the mother, and pro-life advocates saying that by 22 weeks, the decision to terminate a pregnancy should have long-been made for any reason other than the health and welfare of the mother.
Opponents to the measure spent more than $7 million, mostly in out of state money fighting the issue, and rarely clarified that the ban was after 22 weeks, leading many voters to believe it was an absolute ban..
Television ads and mailers campaigned on deceiving information, including that the proposition did not include an exception for the life of the mother.
Tonya Van Beber, who won her bid for House District 48 on Tuesday, previously told Complete Colorado that the fliers amounted to nothing more than propaganda designed to mislead the voters.
“It is disingenuous double speak intended to intentionally mislead the voter as to what the proposition is actually trying to accomplish,” said Van Beber, who herself was born at 21 weeks of gestation. “The majority of people agree if it is at all possible, to preserve a life. If you have to hide the actual outcome in your message, then clearly there is morality issue. The act of omission is intentionally deceitful. When you cannot speak plainly without shrouding the message, then clearly you are hiding from what the voters do want.”
According to the Catholic Telegraph, between 200 and 300 abortions occur annually after 21-weeks in Colorado.
Kristen Day, president of the Democrats for Life of America, told the Catholic News Agency that 19,000 Democrats signed the petition to put Prop 115 on the ballot.
“Even Democrats oppose late-term abortion. 82 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of independents and 94 percent of Republicans oppose third trimester abortions,” she said. “It’s a very mainstream position.”
