Colorado Life Initiative
Join Us in Protecting Innocent Children and Caring for their Mothers
Because Every Child Deserves a Birthday
And Every Mom is Worth Protecting
Arguments
"Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
Thank you for reaching out to us. With the overturning of Roe v Wade, the decision goes back to the states which children's lives a state will protect prior to, during, and after birth. Because human life is a continuum from conception through birth and natural death, it is important that we protect the lives of all children prior to, during, and after birth so that everyone has a fair opportunity to live their one and only life to the fullest extent possible.
"Equal Protection of Every Living Child" is a People's Initiative that we are circulating and gathering signatures to get onto this year's November ballot in 2022 that would grant every living child the opportunity to be born, to experience love, and to continue living!
Right now in Colorado, we have one of the most cruel and inhumane laws in the world concerning the lives of children. Abortion brutally dismembers or poisons a child who can feel pain as early as 7 weeks, has a face at five weeks, a heartbeat at 21 days, and is living from the moment of conception when their unique DNA is knit together into one single cell and then rapidly starts reproducing.
Protecting children also protects mothers from the harms of abortion and those exploiting women for profit, and gets our families and communities back to a place of health where we value lives and liberties of every fellow human being. It's important for those of us who call ourselves prolife that our voices are heard on behalf of the children who cannot speak for themselves. It is up to us as Colorado citizens to create just laws to protect women and children so that everyone has a fair opportunity to be born and live their one and only life.
ARGUMENT: “The Initiative is not incremental, which will not work in a ‘Blue’ state.”
ANSWER: “Incrementalism” has been man’s strategy for more than fifty years, and many prolife leaders have been taught that if we keep doing the same things over and over again we will someday get a different result… next time, next election cycle, next generation …. Meanwhile, more than twelve thousand children lose their lives in Colorado every year, as they are brutally and painfully pulled apart or poisoned and their mothers are unnaturally stretched or put into labor through abortion.
Allowing the killing of any child is evil. Incrementalism compromises with evil and relies on convincing the public that abortion is wrong at some arbitrary developmental stage this time, and then at a different developmental stage next time, rather than speaking the whole truth and creating a good law all at once.
At the end of time, Jesus tells us that whatever we do to the “least of these,” we do to Him. In the Old Testament, God tells us to “cease doing evil and learn to do good”. God hates injustice, which we create as we sentence some children to die while protecting others. We have to do it God’s way to receive God’s blessing. Abortion is a multi-billion-dollar industry but that Goliath will fall!
This is a spiritual battle dealing with a moral issue and God’s expressed will for us to follow. Our goal is to honor and obey God. There is no evidence to suggest Incrementalism would work or that this approach will not. Ultimately, the battle is the Lord’s. We are praying to be faithful with what God has called us to do. We seek to unify everyone who wants to protect children at all stages of life. We do not want Satan to divide us based on varying opinions on what the “correct” human strategy would be. By supporting 56, we are making it clear that we do not approve of the current status quo in Colorado which is abortion through birth. If we are silent, we are giving the victory to the enemy without a fight. There are only two options from which to choose in 2022: the status quo that keeps abortion legal through birth, or an initiative that abolishes abortion in the state.
ARGUMENT: “The initiative does not explicitly state that mothers cannot be prosecuted which is not merciful to mothers.”
ANSWER: What is the purpose of law? The purpose of law is to protect people, deter actions that cause harm, define where one individual's rights end and another's rights begin, and determine certain immoral or unethical actions as unacceptable within a civilized society. Of course, everyone needs mercy, but until we know that what we're doing is wrong, how do we know to ask God for mercy? God gave the law so we would know wrong from right. It is a just (fair) law that holds women and men to an equal standard and we put into practice what we say we believe that every human life has equal value. Scripture asserts, and more than 96% of biologists agree, that the life of a human being begins at conception. Since children are fully human and alive and deserving of protection, and murder is wrong, we cannot condone what God Himself condemns and tells us not to do. Our law must reflect His as the ultimate, eternal authority, "on earth as it is in heaven". Do we care enough about women to protect them from the harm of abortion? If this helps a woman from aborting her child and a lifetime of regrets, isn't this law also merciful?
Current law does not protect women from abortion. With current law, women are lied to, coerced, and blindly suffering the harmful consequences of abortion. Women are not told how abortion procedures are performed, the development of their baby, or the harm it will cause them long term, and shortterm dangers are often minimalized. Women are not helped out of abusive relationships. Women are not told about the more than 200 pregnancy care centers across Colorado, local churches, and community organizations available to address her fears and provide resources to meet her real needs, or the many adoption agencies that can provide for her the opportunity to choose loving parents for her child. This initiative would change that.
This initiative applies all current law protecting children who are born to all children at differing developmental stages and ages prior to birth. This Initiative makes abortion illegal. It outlaws all abortion clinics, all abortion pills through the mail, and requires that all doctors must try to save both patients (mother and child). If it passes, abortions will only occur illegally, in which case the person performing the illegal action is held accountable. The abortionist is performing the illegal action and would be liable. If a mother is prosecuted for paying the abortionist to take the life of her child, she would be protected by due process of the law, including the appointment of an attorney at no cost to her, and access to professional counseling and medical care. There are many current laws already in place for those committing crimes protecting innocent parties, those who do not understand what they were doing, or those being victimized or coerced into doing something they did not intend to do. Defenses of duress, necessity, mistake of fact, among others, protect women being victimized or unaware of what she is doing. As involving illegal drugs, those using abortion services illegally may request immunity in exchange for testimony against those trafficking abortions. If the mother is being abused, trafficked, or coerced this could be discovered and she would have no-cost access to legal counsel and physical help to get away from her abuser. By making abortion illegal, current laws applying to illegal acts protect women in ways that women are not currently protected. When abortion becomes illegal in Colorado, women become educated that it's not alright to take the lives of children prior to birth and abortionists can be legally put out of business.
As far as merciful, mercy comes from Truth who is Jesus. It is merciful to keep others from sin, both for their eternal soul as well as their temporal well-being. We must love our neighbors as ourselves. We do not want to sin, nor do we want others to be harmed by sin. This initiative is actually very merciful to mothers, fathers, and anyone in the abortion industry. When we teach our children to avoid great evils, we make the penalties very high, so they know the severity of their actions. This initiative shows society that abortion is a great moral evil to be avoided.
In addition to abortion being morally evil and fatal to children, abortion harms women. Women suffer serious physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional complications from abortions. More than 57,000 women die annually from legal abortions. More than 55% of women experiencing an abortion suffer permanent psychological damage, including increased suicide, depression, and anxiety. More than 40% of women experiencing abortion say they felt coerced into an abortion by a parent, boyfriend, or husband. The anger we see in many women and their demands that other women also have access is an example of psychological damage, along with difficulty bonding with future children and difficulty in relationships, particularly with men. Physically, many women hemorrhage and become infected, with increased risk of future miscarriage and infertility. If we care about women, we will care to discourage them from harming themselves. Women cannot thrive when they are being exploited for profit and are participating in taking the lives of their children. While saving lives of children, this statute also protects the lives of women from lifelong harm caused by abortion.
ARGUMENT: “It will fail to pass voter approval, which will hurt the Prolife community because that makes us a more pro-abortion state.”
ANSWER: This is a lie that was started by abortionists which many Prolife groups have unfortunately believed and now repeat. In 2010, the personhood amendment gained 500,000 votes. In 2020, the late term abortion ban attracted 1.1 million votes. We need only a little more than 500,000 more votes in 2022. Regardless of the outcome, putting an initiative on the ballot shows that we are a less pro-abortion state than what appears by the passage of RHEA. It shows there are people who support life in all its stages and we are not giving up. If it does not pass, just run it again. We trust God to lead us. Just being on the ballot makes a more prolife state than opponents want us to believe. We are continuing to allow people to see the truth, to consider it, to have conversations about it. While gathering signatures and reading the ballot, people are becoming educated. This is saving children's lives and changing people's minds during the process. Our definition of success is to do God’s will, speak truthfully, and love our neighbor as ourselves.
ARGUMENT: This just isn't the right time.
ANSWER: When is the right time to do the right thing? When would be a better time? Should we wait until after a mid-term election year for a year the opposition will be pouring money into a presidential election? Should we wait until conservatives are not out in full force like they will be this year? Should we wait until the abortion lobby has had a chance to get their arguments ready and their commercials made? For the twelve thousand (plus) children who will be killed in Colorado next year if we do nothing, those children might tell us now is a good time. God's timing for us to repent is always now. In 2022, we either do nothing and by omission condone killing children through birth, as our law stands right now, or we do as God expects of us and “rescue those being led to the slaughter”.
ARGUMENT: “This Initiative has an exception for the life of the mother, so it is not ‘Equal Protection’.”
ANSWER: While the word “exception” is in the Title that the State Title Board gave us, the exception clause specifically states that the life of the child will be saved and not purposefully killed.