DENVER—Voter-approved campaign finance restrictions on a Colorado anti-abortion group are unconstitutional, a federal appeals court affirmed on Tuesday.
The Colorado Right to Life Committee had challenged parts of Amendment 27, which state voters approved in 2002 to prohibit corporations from using their general funds to make political contributions or to pay for electioneering materials.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Colorado Right to Life qualified as an exception because it wasn’t formed for business activities, didn’t have shareholders and received less than 1 percent of its yearly gross income from business corporations.
Secretary of State Mike Coffman also had argued that the group had to register as a political committee and was subject to financial disclosure requirements.
The appeals court ruled Colorado Right to Life did not qualify because its major purpose is not to promote the election or defeat of certain candidates. Instead the group says its mission is to promote respect for human life, the court said.
A spokesman for Coffman said he could not comment because they hadn’t seen the ruling.
