Democrats Condemn Passage of HB 1279
Call on Colorado Legislators To Seek Equity for Pregnancy Outcomes
Denver, Colorado, March 15, 2022 - Democrats For Life of America (DFLA) urges Colorado Senators to oppose dangerous abortion legislation recently passed by the State House. Instead, DFLA demands common ground solutions to address the inequity of pregnancy outcomes in the state.
“The legislature should table this legislation and make a concerted effort to work to provide equity in pregnancy outcomes - particularly for poor and minority women who are overrepresented in abortion numbers,” said Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats for Life. “HB 1279's focus on abortion as the “priority option” does not address the inequalities for financially insecure families who do not want abortion, but solutions to their financial insecurity.”
Democrats For Life urges the Colorado legislature to look for ways to provide low-income women with the same opportunity to parent as families with greater means. The Guttmacher Institute indicates that 75 percent of women who seek abortion are financially insecure. In addition to prioritizing abortion, the bill assigns different human rights values depending on the baby's location.
“Under HB1279, a baby born at 26 weeks receives full human rights protections, but a 36-week fetus does not have human rights or protection,” said Dr. Tom Perille, President of DFL of Colorado. “A person’s location should never be the basis of human rights. This defies logic and every human sensibility.”
In addition to its problematic relationship with human rights, the legislation provides conflicting fundamental rights. It creates a fundamental right to abortion and a fundamental right to carry a pregnancy to term. Ninety percent of the bill addresses inequities in access to abortion, but the bill does provide equal emphasis or address the barriers to supporting a live birth.
“This bill does not address the high number of abortions, nor how lack of resources affects the disproportionate number of abortions among poor women of color, nor does it provide access to alternatives to abortion,” said Ms. Day. “It utterly fails to address access for women who want to exercise their fundamental right to carry a pregnancy to term.”
Democrats For Life calls on the legislature to lead on fair outcomes for unplanned and unexpected pregnancies.
“Colorado has an opportunity to lead on what a post-Roe world should look like – a world where no woman sees abortion as her best and only choice,” said Dr. Perille. “We stand ready to work toward that reality.”
