Press Releases
Panel kills abortion bill
Bill Scanlon - Rocky Mountain News
2/17/04
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A House committee Monday killed a bill that would have required
women contemplating an abortion to wait 72 hours and to be
given an ultrasound photo of the fetus.
"This bill illustrates the lack of trust
the proponents have in a woman's ability to make her own personal
and private decision in consultation with her family and doctor,"
Beth Ganz, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado,
told members of the House Health, Environment, Welfare and
Institutions Committee.
"The voters of Colorado don't want this
legislation," Ganz said.
HB 1303 was introduced by Pam Rhodes, R-Thornton,
and had 20 GOP co-sponsors. It required abortion providers
to give patients certain information - including a description
of the abortion procedure, age of the fetus and an ultrasound
image - and require her to wait 72 hours after getting the
information before having an abortion.
GOP Rep. Ramey Johnson joined five Democratic
members of the 11-member panel in voting to kill the bill.
Johnson, a nurse, said her vote was not based on her beliefs
on abortion but her fear of government intrusion and meddling
in the doctor-patient relationship.
Proponents said the bill would give women more
time and information to make an important decision.
"How can (bill opponents) call themselves pro-choice
and be against giving women more information?" asked
the Rev. Bill Carmody, of Catholic Dioceses of Colorado Springs.
Ultrasound images of the fetus, he added, make a woman "more
likely to recognize it as human."
U.S. Air Force surgeon Dr. Kent Murphy, of Colorado
Springs, acknowledged the legislature hasn't mandated a 72-hour
waiting period for any other surgery.
"But I can't think of any other surgery
where a 15-year-old can call and get surgery the same day,
saying she doesn't want to tell her parents," he said.
"Abortions are held to lower standards than putting tubes
in a child's ear."
But opponents reminded lawmakers that in 2000,
Colorado voters rejected an effort to make women wait 24 hours
before an abortion.
