A controversial initiative to prohibit late-term abortions in Colorado – defeated eight years ago – is moving closer to the November 2006 ballot. The measure would make it a felony if a doctor is convicted of performing an abortion on a “viable fetus.”
This month, supporters received the go-ahead to start collecting the 68,000 signatures required to get it on the ballot.
Denver attorney Michael Lawrence is one of the key people behind the measure. “We want to make sure that abortion is not done on fetuses old enough that they are arguably a person at the time of abortion and we want to make sure abortions are not performed on fetuses that are neurologically developed enough to feel the abortion as it occurs,” he said.
Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood said the measure is “about politics, not about helping women.” “We’re very concerned that under this initiative a doctor can be convicted of a felony for acting in the best interests of his or her patient,” said spokeswoman Crystal Clinkenbeard.
Lawrence said that if passed, the measure would impact about 10 percent of the 5,000-plus abortions performed in Colorado every year. “We’re trying to be as modest as possible in what we’re trying to prohibit,” he said. In 1997, a similar ballot measure was defeated 52-48 percent, Lawrence said.
On the ballot with Ritter
Some Democratic activists are hoping a pro-choice candidate will challenge former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter for the party’s gubernatorial nomination.
With eight months before the August 2006 primaries, one deep-pocketed Democrat – or maybe more than one – has commissioned a hush-hush survey of voters to determine who has statewide appeal and what issues resonate with Coloradans. Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said the sponsors hope the results will convince a candidate with broad appeal to enter the Democratic race.
“For someone to get into this race without knowing how viable they are would be insane,” said Fitz-Gerald. “You need to know you’re a contender to get into that box.”
Ritter is the only announced candidate but some pro-choice Democrats are put off by his pro-life stance. They’re not swayed by the fact that many prominent national Democrats – Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, among them – are pro-life and that Ritter might appeal to Republican moderates or unaffiliated voters. Tim Kaine, the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia, also is a pro-lifer.
Some of the names being circulated in the survey, which Fitz-Gerald said exists but hasn’t seen, will be familiar to you – they include Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar. To date, all have said they’re not planning to run.
Diapers at the Justice Department
The roof at the Colorado Justice Department building is leaking so badly that construction “diapers” are being used to catch the runoff. Water has been known to rain down on the heads of “an attorney or two” during arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court, said court spokeswoman Karen Salaz.
The “diapers” are so massive and the buckets catching the water so obvious that they’ve become a tourist distraction, said Salaz. “People ask more questions about the buckets and the diapers than the courtrooms,” she said.
Fortunately, $262,000 was allocated in the current year’s budget for roof repairs, and a complete overhaul of the roof is now underway. While they’re at it, construction workers are making $250,000 in security upgrades – including installing new surveillance equipment and cement planters to keep traffic at bay. The money came from a bucket of federal Homeland Security dollars.
Julia C. Martinez (jmartinez@denverpost.com) is a member of the Denver Post editorial board.
