A Republican lawmaker has introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to define pregnancy as beginning at fertilization.
Rep. Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud said he wants “to re-establish in Colorado law the proper definition of pregnancy.”
“It’s based on good science. It’s not based on medical opinion,” he said.
Current law, Lundberg said, defines pregnancy as when a fertilized egg is implanted on the uterine wall.
“It allows us to call something contraceptive when it’s abortive,” he said, asserting that both so-called Plan B emergency contraception and intrauterine devices are abortive because they can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting.
But Kathryn Wittneben of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado said her group opposes the bill “because it’s not medically based.”
“We’re supporting the doctors who claim that it’s not scientifically or medically accepted to redefine pregnancy,” she said.
Many contraceptives, she said, are designed to help stop implantation.
“I think it’s this small minority that doesn’t want women to have contraception and to have healthy families and healthy children and control their own reproductive choices,” she said.
Lundberg denied that the bill was the product of election- year politics.
If people are interested in where their lawmakers stand on such issues, he said, they can look at how legislators voted on allowing pharmacists to prescribe emergency contraception. House Bill 1212 passed the legislature but was vetoed by the governor.
Lundberg’s proposal was one of a number of proposed constitutional amendments introduced before last week’s deadline for filing measures. To make it to November’s ballot, two-thirds of lawmakers from each chamber must approve.
A sampling of constitutional amendments pending:
Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 would allow seniors who have lived in Colorado for 10 years to qualify for the senior property-tax exemption.
House Concurrent Resolution 1006 would allow Coloradans to deduct the federal income tax they paid from their state taxable income.
House Concurrent Resolution 1011 would require the state insurance commissioner to be elected in a statewide vote.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 would require nonpartisan staffers to write the state’s redistricting plan.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
