Abortion Access for All recently announced the launch of the No On
P roposition 115 campaign, a vigorous effort to defeat this year’s abortion ban ballot measure. Proposition 115 (formerly Initiative 120), is a back-door ban that would criminalize abortion at 22 weeks, with no exceptions for rape, incest, fetal diagnoses, or a woman’s health.
The campaign will educate and mobilize voters in every corner of the state around the dangerous and deceptive nature of this year’s version of an abortion ban, yet another attempt to chip away access to reproductive health care with the ultimate goal of banning all abortion. A robust and growing list of organizations working on a spectrum of issues, in addition to those in the reproductive health, rights, and justice arena, have already come out strongly in opposition to Proposition 115.
“It’s critical that patients have access to health care that meets their individual needs,” said Dr. Kristina Tocce, Medical Director at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “As an OBGYN, I have never seen two pregnancies that are the same, and a one-size-fits-all ban would prohibit providers and patients from making individual decisions based on their own circumstances that none of us can ever fully know. As a healthcare provider, I trust my patients to make the decisions that are best for them. This proposition would hurt patients, families, and providers; this ban would put uncompromising politics between me and my patient.”
“Abortion bans are blunt, unsympathetic laws that force people to travel out of state, away from their homes and loved ones, to reach essential health care,” explained Erika Christensen, a patient advocate for abortion later in pregnancy, along with her husband Garin Marschall. The couple traveled to Colorado for abortion care after they were turned away for being outside the legal window to access care in their home state of New York. “This ban doesn’t help anyone or make them safer, and patients like me are tired of seeing the care we need politicized and attacked. We thought deeply about our decision, and the last thing we needed was government interference into something so personal.”
Colorado voters are angry and frustrated that attacks on reproductive freedom continue. They have rejected abortion bans on the ballot three times in the last 12 years, trusting pregnant women, families, and healthcare providers to make personal medical decisions without political interference. Even if people have conflicted feelings on abortion later in pregnancy, they know the government has no place in these decisions and a one-size-fits-all law is just wrong.
“Make no mistake: Proposition 115 is a back-door ban on abortion brought to you by the same groups and politicians who want to take away our autonomy to make the medical decisions that are right for us and ban abortion outright. Vulnerable and marginalized communities often face additional barriers and delays to accessing abortion care– this ban will disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ+, low-income, and young individuals and families. Coloradans across party lines believe all people should have access to the health care they need without political interference. Come November, Colorado voters have the chance to say ‘No’ once and for all,” said Dusti Gurule, executive director of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR).
Abortion Access for All was formed in 2019 to oppose Proposition 115, the 22-week abortion ban that will appear on the November ballot. Participating organizations include: American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (ACLU), Cobalt, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR), Interfaith Alliance, New Era Colorado, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Action Fund (PPRM), and Progress Now Colorado.
For more information, to volunteer or donate to the campaign, visit voteno115.com. Follow on F acebook, Instagram and Twitter @access4allCO.
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