Two opposing abortion measures try to gain enough signatures to make November ballot

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- The abortion battle in Colorado is coming to a head as two opposing abortion initiatives are trying to make the November ballot.

Hundreds of people rallied at the Colorado State Capitol on Monday. Many signs read “My Body. My Choice.” or “Protect Abortion Access.” It was the 51st anniversary of the passing of Roe v. Wade and the launch of an initiative to add abortion rights to Colorado’s constitution.

Colorado has some of the strongest abortion laws in the country, allowing abortions all nine months of pregnancy. Last year, lawmakers approved the right to abortion in anticipation of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But this initiative would take it one step further by adding abortion rights to the state’s constitution.

“Politics change with the wind and by putting protections to abortion in our state constitution, that means that bodily autonomy will be protected in perpetuity,” said Nicole Hensel, the executive director of New Era and a proponent of the pro-abortion initiative.

The initiative would also repeal a 1984 law that prohibits the state from using taxpayer money for abortion services. The ban means abortions for government employees or Medicaid recipients are covered by insurance.

“Abortion is health care,” Hensel said. “That means it shouldn't matter who your insurance provider is, it shouldn't matter what your occupation is, whether you're a teacher or a firefighter or a city employee, you should be able to access the essential health care that you deserve and that you need.”

As pro-abortion advocates are trying to gather signatures for this initiative, anti-abortion advocates are gathering signatures for their own initiative, which would make abortion illegal in Colorado.

The initiative asks voters to identify a fertilized egg as a human being from the moment of conception. By defining a “living human child” from the moment of conception, the initiative would ban abortion in the state, as a “living human child must not be intentionally dismembered, mutilated, poisoned, scalded, starved, stabbed, given toxic injections known to cause death,” according to the initiative. The proposed ban doesn’t include exceptions for rape, incest, or health risks.

“It's a biological fact that we are human, alive and growing from day one when our unique DNA is formed,” said Faye Barnhart, the main proponent of the anti-abortion initiative. “Currently in the state of Colorado, we have the most inhumane laws in the world for torturing children to death, all nine months of pregnancy. We want to protect these children.”

Similar initiatives in the past have failed. Yet despite the uphill battle, Barnhart is confident the initiative will gain enough signatures to make the ballot.

“This just needs one signature and one vote from people who care about children because every child deserves a birthday,” she said.

Both initiatives need 124,238 signatures to make the ballot. However, the pro-abortion initiative has additional parameters since it aims to change the Colorado constitution. It needs signatures from 2% of registered voters in every senate district, which Hensel said is possible.

“This is also about government interference in our personal decisions and that resonates with Coloradans across different lines of identity and ideology,” Hensel said. “People really don't believe that it's the government's business to interfere with a decision that is ultimately personal between a person and their medical provider. We expect to see broad-based support across the state.”

If both initiatives receive the necessary signatures, they will appear on the November ballot. Again, since the pro-abortion initiative would change the state’s constitution, it would need 55% of votes to pass, rather than the simple majority.