FAQs

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EQUITY ACT
HB22-1279. Why is Wrong for Coloradans?

The Reproductive Health Equity Act codifies abortion access at any time during pregnancy for any reason.  In other words, it legalizes the killing of a human being in the womb at any stage of pregnancy, until the moment of birth. This totally disregards the humanity, dignity and value of the developing human baby even in the days or weeks prior to birth.  It’s a drastic deviation from the longstanding abortion jurisprudence promulgated by Roe and Casey.  It’s the most radical abortion law in the country and the world.  (Even China and North Korea don’t allow abortion at any time for any reason).  

  1. The Reproductive Health Equity Act eliminates the only abortion restriction currently enforced in Colorado – parental notification.  This means that our teenage children may confront an unplanned pregnancy and abortion on their own without any parental involvement. It makes it easier for child sex trafficking to go unreported. 

  2. The Reproductive Health Equity Act is inconsistent with the views of the majority of Colorado voters.  Polling conducted by Cygnal in June 2020 demonstrated that only 37% of the Colorado electorate agreed that abortion should always be legal.  (The poll included a sampling of 516 likely voters; 52.4% women, 47.6% men; 29% Republican, 33.5% Democrats, 31.8% Independents).   The majority (51.2%) believed that abortion should only be available during the first 3 months of pregnancy, if the life of the mother was at risk, or if the baby was conceived in rape or incest.

  3. The Reproductive Health Equity Act, which is predicated exclusively on the autonomy rights of women with absolutely no acknowledgement of the competing rights of the preborn baby, is out of sync with Coloradans’ sensibilities. The birth standard in the Reproductive Health Equity Act is more arbitrary than the viability standard promulgated by Roe. Viability is constantly changing, but there is sufficient scientific consensus to narrow the developmental window to within 2 weeks (currently 21-23 weeks). Birth on the other hand can occur anytime between 21- and 42-weeks’ gestation – making it a much more arbitrary standard for determining a developing human’s value. Whether a human is wanted or not should not be the only criteria Colorado embraces to adjudicate abortion prior to birth.

  4. Targets "people of color" and “people with low incomes" to achieve "racial equity." This bill tells pregnant women, especially poor Latino and Black women that they are incapable of succeeding without ending the lives of their babies. This bill is the fulfillment of the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, a racist woman who wanted to exterminate minorities.

  5. Supports taking the life of preborn babies even if the baby has the "wrong sex," "wrong race,"
    or has disabilities. It supports racist, sexist and discriminatory practices. (In testimony heard at the Colorado House on February 11, 2020, pertaining to HB20-1098, the Boulder Abortion Clinic staff was recorded telling a patient that they “don’t judge” her for wanting to abort a third trimester baby because the father was Latino). Even if an enforcement mechanism is problematic, the bill should explicitly exclude abortion for racist reasons.

  6. Most late abortions are performed on healthy women with healthy babies. Once the baby is viable (typically 22 weeks), there is never a medical reason to pursue an abortion for the health of the mother – since the health problem will be resolved by delivering the baby. Furthermore, the most prominent Colorado late abortionist, Dr. Warren Hern, reports that 70% of his abortions are on normal babies. Without any gestational limits on abortion, the Reproductive Health Equity Act endorses the killing of normal babies well into the third trimester for women without any health issues. Rather than address the complex social and economic circumstances that drive a woman to consider an abortion, the legislature favors a cruel and inhumane solution.

  7. It doesn't protect women undergoing abortion. It prioritizes abortion over women’s health and safety. The language of the bill suggests that implementation of appropriate health and safety regulations for abortion might be interpreted as impeding access and thus prohibited.

  8. RHEA does nothing to address the root problems that a woman faces that drives her to consider an abortion. There’s no compassion or a helping hand for a pregnant woman or a woman who had an abortion. The bill is ALL about supporting the abortion industry at the expense of women’s suffering.

    Fetal Development
    Human embryology has long established the fact that human life begins at fertilization and that human development is a seamless process that continues for years after birth.  It should not be surprising that 96% of 5577 biology scientists who were recently surveyed agreed that human life begins at fertilization. No matter how hard abortion rights activists try to confuse people, human zygotes, embryos and babies are biological human beings.  
    A primordial heart develops in the human embryo by the fifth week (post last menstrual period) and begins to pump blood by the sixth week. Rapid development of the brain occurs in the seventh week. By the 10th week, the embryo has distinctly human characteristics, developed the beginnings of all major organ systems, and demonstrates purposeful limb movements. During the 19th week, the mother can feel the fetal movements and by 22-weeks the baby can respond to her mother’s touch. Fetal surgeries, in which the human baby is operated on by specially trained fetal surgeons and anesthesiologists, have been pursued as early as the 19th- week gestation.
    Ultrasound using 4D technology has revealed a surprising diversity of fetal movements and added to our knowledge of the fetal central nervous system and neurobehavior. By the 11th week of gestation, the baby demonstrates head flexion/rotation, isolated arm/leg movements, stretching, sucking, swallowing, hiccups, jaw opening and yawning. By the 22 weeks gestation the baby can blink, repetitively open/close their mouth, extrude their tongue, smile, and grimace. Babies have been observed to cry in utero. These observations attest to the sophistication of the fetal brain at 22 weeks and suggest a beginning of a baby’s emotional response. 

The human baby develops the ability to detect other sensory stimuli such as tastes and smells. Researchers have demonstrated that specific foods and flavors in the maternal diet during pregnancy can transfer to and flavor the amniotic fluid.  These flavors are in turn tasted by the baby and result in post-natal food preferences.  This is how culture-specific flavor preferences are learned by the baby and initiated early in life.    

It has also long been recognized that the human baby can respond to sound as early as 19 weeks. The baby specifically responds to her mother’s voice.  At 25 weeks human babies have been observed to mimic their mother’s recitation of a nursery rhyme by opening and closing their mouths. Furthermore, a newborn human shows preference for her mother’s voice and for musical pieces to which she were previously exposed, which confirms a capacity for a baby to learn in utero.  Studies have shown that prenatally acquired acoustical memory can persist at least 6 weeks after birth.

Human babies in utero with gestational ages of 22 weeks or greater are biologically indistinguishable from infants born at 22 weeks – they are vital human beings. They have developed all the essential organ systems, they can perceive pain, they can demonstrate sophisticated behaviors including the beginning of emotion, they can respond to and learn from familiar tastes and sounds, and they can undergo curative operative therapies as independent patients. The only difference is location. Location should not be the determinant of human value. A human’s inalienable right to life, proclaimed in our Constitution has not, and should not be, contingent on location.
Watch the video

Fetal Pain

While there is considerable debate concerning when the human baby can experience pain, it can be said that at least at 22-week-old human baby can experience pain – more intensely than an infant or adult. The majority of contemporary fetal medicine specialists now consider compelling evidence that a 22-24 week baby experiences pain. Some believe a baby as young as 13 weeks is able to experience pain, although without the capacity for self-reflection. More sophisticated 4D ultrasound technology has also enhanced our ability to use facial expression to assess fetal pain. Because inhibitory descending pathways, which down-regulate pain perception, mature only after birth, the human baby may be much more sensitive to pain than infants or adults. Clinicians have long observed that preterm infants at the lowest limit of viability have “profound, acute adverse reactions” to major painful stimuli. Physicians and nurses in neonatal intensive care units witness this every day and utilize multiple different pain assessment tools to help measure and mitigate the pain.

What’s Abortion

Documentaries about Abortion.
Eclipse of Reason: Live Abortion with Charlton Heston and Dr Bernard Nathanson, co-founder of Naral and for two years Dr. Bernard was the Director of the largest abortionist clinic in the word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWcje7WafgE

The Silent Scream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEZGzvoASW4




Abortion Procedure

There are many different abortion techniques and remarkable procedure variability among physicians performing late second trimester and third trimester abortions.   This reflects the lack of consensus in the abortion community.  

Generally, beginning at 16 weeks gestation, Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) replaces sharp curettage and suction curettage as the surgical abortion procedure of choice. During D&E, cervical dilation is achieved over one or more days by osmotic dilators (+/- adjuvant misoprostol) to facilitate the subsequent mechanical destruction and dismemberment of the baby.  Parts of the human baby grasped/torn from her/his torso are then easily removed through the dilated cervix.  A large-bore vacuum curette is used to remove the placenta and remaining tissue.  Administration of a pre-procedure feticide such as intraamniotic/intra-fetal digoxin, intracardiac potassium chloride or transection of the umbilical cord sometimes proceeds the D&E.  

Dilation and Extraction (D&X) or Intact D&E is similar to the D&E procedure except that a suction cannula is utilized to evacuate the brain after delivery of the fetal human body/legs through the dilated cervix. The ensuing collapse of the head facilitates its passage through the cervical canal.  In the popular vernacular this procedure is sometimes referred to as “Partial-Birth Abortion”.  In order to comply with the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, fetal demise must be ensured prior to the procedure.  This is accomplished using a pre-procedure feticide or by transection of the umbilical cord.  

During an Induction Abortion, labor is induced using mechanical means and/or by chemical means after several days of osmotic dilators. The human baby is usually delivered intact.  To remain within the framework of the law, fetal demise is achieved prior to delivery using a feticide.  This is the method used in third trimester abortions.  

Abortion proponents make the claim that fetal death during abortion is more compassionate and painless than natural fetal/infant death in instances where the baby has a terminal diagnosis. During D&E, only 30-50% of human babies are routinely killed prior to the dismemberment procedure in second trimester abortions. It is hard to imagine that dismemberment would be less painful than natural death in conjunction with advanced perinatal hospice/palliative care services.  

Even for those human babies who are killed before they are dismembered or delivered in second and third trimester abortions, there may be substantial suffering.  A recent post-mortem MRI study of babies who have been administered a feticide indicate secondary pneumothorax – collapsed lung (23%), hemothorax – hemorrhage in lung (42%), pneumopericardium – air around the heart (31%), and hemopericardium – hemorrhage around the heart (35%). These babies also had higher intraabdominal injuries.  This suggests that just the process of injecting the feticide may inflict substantial pain.  Furthermore, a highly concentrated potassium infusion can cause intense intravascular burning in normal patients.  Even though an intracardiac infusion of potassium can kill a baby within 2 minutes, It’s impossible to ascertain whether the human baby experiences intense pain prior to its demise. Intraamniotic or intra-fetal digoxin is the more commonly used poison to achieve fetal demise.  A digoxin overdose in older humans causes intense nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, visual disturbances and delirium. Digoxin kills by causing severe bradycardia (slow heart rate) culminating in asystole (heart stopping), but it  does not kill quickly.  It can take up to 4 hours for intra-fetal and up to 24 hours for intraamniotic digoxin to achieve asystole. Women are routinely told to anticipate “kicks” for hours after the feticide is administered. The visual, gastrointestinal, neurological and cardiac manifestations of digoxin toxicity could arguably represent fetal human cruelty.  Indeed, if this same methodology was utilized in a death penalty case, it would be considered “cruel and unusual punishment”.  

In more candid moments, even abortion advocates sometimes characterize late abortion procedures on human babies as “morally abhorrent”. It is a form of intimate human violence which is unparalleled in medicine. The only reason that it persists is that the violence is hidden within the confines of the uterus. When the mother (and the broader public) are shielded from the reality of the carnage that is being inflicted on the human baby, it is easier to rationalize its utility.

The Pill - First Trimester 
Second Trimester
Third Trimester
Late-Term Abortion


Late-Term Abortion in Colorado

There is no mandatory reporting for number of abortions, indications for abortions or complications from abortions in the United States.  Consequently, it is difficult to independently assess the practices of late term abortionists and the patients they serve.  It is also uncommon for an independent expert to review late abortionists’ practices.  In a rare move that resulted in significant controversy/litigation, Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline had Dr. Paul McHugh, University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, review redacted records of prominent third-trimester abortionist, George Tiller. Dr. McHugh reported that he found instances where abortions were obtained for “trivial reasons” (like a desire to play sports) and for psychiatric reasons (such as adjustment disorder, anxiety, and depression) that could have been more appropriately remedied without resorting to late abortion. He indicated that from his review of the records “anybody could have gotten an (third trimester) abortion if they wanted one”.  

In Colorado, the Boulder Abortion ;Clinic advertises elective abortions, (for any reason) to 26 weeks and then to 36 weeks for “medically indicated terminations”.56 Few Colorado abortionists publicly admit performing late/third trimester abortions and Dr. Warren Hern from the Boulder Abortion Clinic is the exception.  In a number of newspaper and magazine stories, the impression is given that he only performs late abortions for fatal fetal anomalies and life-endangering conditions of the mother. However, anecdotal reports and  a scientific publication suggests that the Boulder Abortion Clinic is willing to consider later abortions for normal human babies. Dr. Hern has admitted that 70% of his abortion practice is for normal human babies. In those 30% of abortions performed for fetal anomaly, he reports that Down Syndrome is his most common indication (24%).  Potentially treatable structural anomalies are included in his series (such as spina bifida, aortic stenosis, abdominal wall abnormalities, urinary obstruction, extra digits, fused digits, deformed hands or feet, scoliosis, and cleft lip/palate).  

To obtain Colorado-specific abortion data is extremely difficult.  The Colorado Department of Health (CDPHE) collects an (admittedly) incomplete survey of abortion providers (since it is anonymous, not mandated, and there is no enforcement mechanism).  In their 2018 Report of Induced Terminations of Pregnancy, 323 abortions were performed after 21 weeks gestation in Colorado (which represents 3.6% of the total abortions performed).60 The corresponding figure for 2019 was 169 or 1.9%.61  The Guttmacher Institute pegs the abortion rate in Colorado approximately 40% higher (based on 2017 data)62 Assuming the CDPHE underestimation persists and is uniformly distributed amongst all gestational ages, this would translate into approximately 452 abortions after 21 weeks in 2018 and 237 in 2019.    

There is reason to believe that late abortions are significantly underreported In Colorado.  The notion of underreporting is further reinforced by the observation that the Boulder Abortion Clinic can’t be reporting their figures. Dr. Hern’s own published research suggests that he was performing approximately 250 abortions per year with 70% after 22 weeks, and 40% after 26 weeks.59 The 2018 and 2019 CDPHE reports only indicate 12 and 13 abortions were performed after 25 weeks – instead of the estimated 100 abortions performed by Dr. Hern after 26 weeks alone. Watch the video

Abortion Pill Reversal
 Abortion Pill, also know as RU-486, is a two-step process involving 2 medication:
 *Mifepristone – designed to block your body’s production of the growth hormone,
progesterone. Often referred to as the “pregnancy hormone,” progesterone is what promotes growth in a human fetus throughout a pregnancy. Taking first. *Misoprostol – induces cramping and contractions to empty the uterus. The experience is very similar to an early miscarriage. Taking up to 48 hrs. after Mifepristone.
In the abortion pill reversal process, progesterone is used to reverse the effects of mifepristone before the second medication, misoprostol, is taken and the abortion process is completed. It’s best to start reversal treatment within 24 hrs. of taking Mifepristone. 

Abortion in Cases of Rape/Incest

"You can’t force a rape survivor to carry a pregnancy to term." This is a hugely popular argument for abortion, even by many who consider themselves pro-life.
Any woman who has been raped needs help, healing, and support from her community, and the rapist needs to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

  • A life is not worth less just because of the way it was conceived

  • The child should not be put to death for the crimes of his or her father 

  • Abortion does nothing to give a rape victim the healing she needs and deserves

  • Abortion only subjects the woman to yet another form of violence and injustice that cannot be erased or undone

  • Rapists are not subject to the death penalty, so to put the child to death is to give the rapist more rights than the innocent child

  • The child conceived in rape can be a reminder that women can rise above after trauma, not a reminder of the trauma

  • Abortion after rape prolongs or even completely halts the healing process, since now there are two traumas to heal from. Watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VU6FfaO6AA

Alternatives
There is no question that woman contemplating late abortion make heart-wrenching decisions. They often feel that abortion is their only choice because of lack of support from family/friends. They may be unaware of life-affirming alternatives. Women need to know that in Colorado we have hundreds of free or low-cost organizations that can provide medical, financial, housing, educational, employment, adoption, emotional and spiritual support to them and their families. They should also be made aware of the many compassionate services that Perinatal hospice offers for parents who deal with a prenatal diagnosis indicating that their baby has a life-limiting condition and might die before or shortly after birth.




Woman’s Right to Bodily Autonomy

Both prolife and prochoice advocates would agree that a woman’s autonomy is an extremely important value; however, both sides differ on whether autonomy supersedes another human being’s fundamental right to life.  These competing rights are why proponents of access to unrestricted abortion go to extreme lengths to minimize the humanity of the baby.  They refer to “terminating the pregnancy” as if the termination could occur without killing a vital, developing human being.  A recent series on abortion rights by the Editorial Board of The New York Times refers to the developing human merely as a “cluster of cells” as if her brain, heart, circulatory system, appendages, hands/feet and nervous system were immaterial.4 Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains characterizes the dismemberment of late second trimester baby during a Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) abortion as removing “pregnancy tissue”. Orwellian language is utilized to refer to the crushed and dismembered human baby as “products of conception” or simply “POC”.  Even the preferred term “baby” is an attempt to dehumanize the developing human.  OB-GYN physicians commonly refer to the “baby” during a woman’s wanted pregnancy, but abortionists will rarely refer to the “baby”, much less use the term “baby”, when counseling a woman on abortion.      

Preserve the Life/health of the Mother

How often is it medically necessary to abort a human baby to preserve the life or health of the mother?  Dr. Diane Foster from the University of California San Francisco states that the number is very hard to characterize. Although there is almost no literature on the subject, one Maternal-Fetal Medicine expert concludes that this is an exceedingly rare event, perhaps encompassing as few as 4 extremely uncommon conditions: pulmonary hypertension (primary or Eisenmenger’s syndrome), Marfan’s syndrome with aortic root involvement, complicated coarctation of the aorta, and peripartum cardiomyopathy with residual dysfunction. These would all likely be adjudicated long before 22 weeks gestation.  Dr. Hern has said that he is unaware of a situation where abortion was necessary (as opposed to delivery) to save the life of a mother in the third trimester. When a mother has a true medical emergency after 22 weeks gestation, abortion is never the safest approach.  Emergent delivery of the baby via cesarean section is considered the medically appropriate option.  To pursue a multi-day abortion procedure would be widely perceived to be medical malpractice.  

Some women may feel the need to abort their baby if they discover chromosomal or structural abnormalities. Prenatal screening tests can confirm fetal abnormalities by 18-20 weeks using currently recommended national screening guidelines – first trimester screen or quadruple marker screen, or integrated stepwise sequential/contingent screening, or cell free DNA screening and mid-trimester ultrasound. Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysl1tRnk-ig

Even in the most high-risk pregnancies, there is no medical reason why the life of the child should be directly and intentionally killed through abortion

  • In cases of true medical necessity, preterm delivery must happen - which is not the same as abortion.

  • It’s profoundly disturbing that many abortions are performed at the same ages of babies who are born preterm and survive

  • Preterm delivery is much safer than a late-term abortion

  • In some cases, treatment is needed for the health of the mother, which may result in the death of the child. This is not abortion, though, because the purpose of the treatment is not to kill the child.

  • Removing an ectopic pregnancy is also not an abortion

  • Physicians have an ethical duty to provide expert care to both mother and child

  • Abortion is never medically necessary to protect the mother’s life or health

Fatal Fetal Diagnosis

Perinatal loss is one of the most devastating events a family will ever experience.  Tragically, many families are unaware that perinatal hospice offers a compassionate, loving, and life-affirming alternative to late abortion for babies with life-limiting genetic or congenital abnormalities.  Perinatal hospice can improve the mother’s and family’s experience when confronted with a fatal fetal diagnosis. Perinatal hospice involves a multidisciplinary team that includes obstetricians, perinatologists, labor & delivery nurses, neonatologists, clergy, social workers, midwives and hospice professionals.  Together they accompany the family through the pregnancy and birth allowing them to fully embrace and celebrate the short life of their baby.  The baby receives palliative symptom management to ensure a natural and comfortable passing.  The family is afforded precious time to hold, feed, bathe, and love their baby.  Perinatal hospice provides ongoing bereavement services for a year or more.  None of these services are typically provided with a late abortion – families are left on their own to navigate the emotionally wrenching reality of their babies illness and death – in which they were complicit.     

Risks of Having an Abortion

Late abortion is associated with significant morbidity and mortality.  The precise magnitude of the risk associated with abortion can’t be reliably gleaned from the CDC or state databases because reporting abortion numbers and related complications is not consistently state mandated and never federally mandated.  Furthermore, abortion procedures in the US are not linked to other sources of health data such as birth or death certificates making meaningful estimates of mortality rates nearly impossible.  Since the system is voluntary and physicians are reluctant to disclose serious complications (including death), underreporting is also a major problem. There have been multiple instances documented where abortion related morbidity and mortality were not captured by the official state/federal databases.  Since Colorado does not have require any oversight of abortion clinics (other than low-bar licensing requirements for their nursing/physician employees), there is substantial risk that maiming and death of affected women may go unreported.  The Gosnell grand jury report in Pennsylvania should serve as a sober reminder that assuming major injuries and deaths from abortion are reported to and acted upon by civil authorities or medical boards is extremely naïve. 

a) Physical
1. Immediate risks:  Incomplete abortion (some placenta of fetal parts not removed)  generally requiring another procedure, heavy bleeding, infection, perforation of the uterus (abortion instrument going through the wall of the uterus) with potential to injury othger organs including the bladder, intestines and/or rectum, possible need for laparoscopy or open abdominal surgery if complication, hysterectomy for complications, complications from anesthesia, blood clots in legs or pelvis, which can travel to the lungs, amniotic fluid embolus (getting into blood stream), death.  The risk of dying increases 38% for each week after 8 weeks.  

2. Later risks (later pregnancies): 
preterm birth from trauma to the cervix or uterus, especially very preterm birth (before 32 weeks) and very low birth weight; placenta accreta spectrum due to trauma to the uterine lining from abortion instruments (the placenta may cover the cervix, may not separate after birth, or may grow deep into or through the uterine wall and possibly into the bladder or other organs; this may require immediate hysterectomy, and is associated with significant risk of hemorrhage, blood transfusion and death); infertility; inability to carry a pregnancy due to trauma to the cervix; association in many studies with increased risk of breast cancer if women have an abortion before having a birth                  
3. Chemical or medical abortion risks are 4 times those of first trimester surgical abortion.  Missing an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy that is outside the uterus), which is a life-threatening condition and has the same symptoms as chemical abortion, failure of the medication (ongoing pregnancy), incomplete abortion, hemorrhage, infection, sepsis, need for surgery to complete the abortion or manage retained placenta or fetal parts, or hemorrhage, hospitalization, blood transfusion, death.  

The risks increase when the medications are provided without in-person exam, ultrasound and blood tests.  Ultrasound is indicated to confirm the gestational age of the baby; the medication is approved only until 10 weeks, and 40% of women who are pregnant and receive an ultrasound have their gestation age corrected by ultrasound.  When the abortion pill is taken after 10 weeks, there is up to a 40% chance of a serious complication.  The blood work identifies women who have a blood type with a negative "Rh" factor. These women should receive an injection to prevent becoming sensitized to her baby's blood type any time there is bleeding during pregnancy, after miscarriage, after birth, and if she has an abortion.  These women are being missed when no blood work is done, and there are potentially grave consequences for future pregnancies.

b) Psychological/emotional Risks
Including but not limited to guilt, post-abortion anger and resentment, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological numbing, depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, relationship problems, and parenting problems. Additionally, in the first year after abortion, women were 2-3 times more likely to die (compared to childbirth at term), 6 times more likely to commit suicide.