Pro-Life, Pro-Woman Organization Save the Storks Hopes to Ban Third-trimester Abortions in 2020
Efforts of group “Due Date Too Late” and ballot measure Initiative 120 would ban abortions after 22-weeks in Colorado
By Brittany Smith
The majority of Americans oppose late-term abortion.
A Gallup poll found that only 28 percent of Americans support second-trimester abortions and it drops by more than half, to 13 percent, for support of third trimester, or late-term abortions.
This majority opinion is something pro-life advocates in Colorado are hoping will change the tide on legislation for third-trimester abortions in their home-state.
The group Due Date Too Late, started by Erin Behrens and Giuliana Day, recently got approval from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to collect signatures to place a ballot measure banning late-term abortions in 2020.
The measure, known as Initiative 120 would make it illegal for doctors in Colorado to perform abortions after 22-weeks, except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
“It’s time for us have this conversation,” Day told Save the Storks. “It goes to the heart of our society. This cuts across any political spectrum. This is not about the right or left, it’s about a moral issue. There have even been pro-choice women who have already signed my petition.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1.3 percent of abortions in the U.S. occur after 21 weeks. But with 630,169 abortions per year, that comes to about 8,000 late-term abortions. The Guttmacher Institute puts that number much higher, at 15,000 per year.
Dr. Barbara Levy, vice president of health policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told CNN: “Abortions later in pregnancy typically occur because of two general indications: lethal fetal anomalies or threats to the health of the mother.”
Many pro-choice advocates echo her claim. But the data doesn’t support this assertion.
The Guttmacher Institute found that 80 percent of women seeking late-term abortions are not doing so because of fetal anomalies, or even because of endangerment to their own lives.
Their study states, “Most women seeking later abortion fit at least one of five profiles: They were raising children alone, were depressed or using illicit substances, were in conflict with a male partner or experiencing domestic violence, had trouble deciding and then had access problems, or were young and nulliparous.”
Colorado Pro-Choice Groups are Fighting Initiative 120
Still, pro-choice groups in Colorado are speaking out against the ban.
Executive Director of NARAL Colorado said, “Coloradans strongly believe that decisions on abortion belong between the patient and their doctor, not with politicians.” NARAL and other Colorado pro-choice groups say they will fight to keep late-term abortion legal.
Day says that groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood don’t understand the full scope of the issue.
What they don’t talk about, she said, is in the third trimester “the baby feels pain. The baby is viable. There are cases where babies have been delivered at 20-21 weeks and survived.”
Paul Isaacs, president of the Colorado-based pro-life group, Save the Storks said, “We stand with Colorado’s ballot initiative to ban abortions after 22-weeks. We believe all life, in all its stages, is valuable and should be protected.”
Advocates have until March 4 to collect 124,632 valid signatures from registered voters in order to place the measure on the November 2020 ballot.
To learn more and request the petition, go here: https://duedatetoolate.com/
