“Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado is pleased by today’s 4-7 defeat of HB13-1032, sponsored by Rep. Janak Joshi. Statement by Cathy Alderman, PPVC Vice President of Public Affairs:
“Planned Parenthood is resolute in our commitment to advance policies
that help and support women. Unfortunately, although the sponsor of
HB-1032 claimed the bill was introduced to help women, in reality, it
was not a solution to preventing violence against pregnant women. If
passed, HB 1032 would have paved the path for difficult constitutional
issues that Colorado voters rejected in the 2008 and 2010 elections when
Amendments 48 and 62, the so-called ‘personhood’ amendments, were
soundly defeated. We are grateful to our lawmakers who recognized the
dangers of this bill and voted against it.
“Today’s defeat comes just hours after a new survey
was released by Project New America and Keating Research showing that
62 percent of Colorado voters agree that, ‘A woman should be allowed to
have an abortion based on her personal values and her doctor's advice.’
Further, the polling shows that 76 percent of Colorado voters believe
the rights and health of the woman should outweigh the rights of an
unborn fetus. HB 1032 was clearly out of touch with the values of a vast
majority of Coloradans.
“It’s time for anti-choice lawmakers to end the persistent attacks to
limit a woman’s ability to access reproductive health care. The new
polling from PNA and Keating in addition to the 2012 election should
send a strong signal to politicians that Coloradans do not want them
meddling in personal, private, and often complex medical decisions that
women and their families make.”
