Rep. Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs) headlined a “Rally to Resist Roe” at the Colorado Capitol Saturday, alongside pastors Jeremy Ueberroth, of Emmaus Road Reformed Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, and Jeff Durbin of End Abortion Now in Mesa, Arizona. Approximately 100 people attended the event, where speakers encouraged the audience to continue to fight against abortion and work to elect anti-abortion candidates office.
“Ladies and gentleman, I’m no hero,” Williams told the crowd. “I am just a regular guy who is a state legislator and is obedient to the Lord. I want to tell everyone and remind everyone that the Lord cares about obedience. In fact, obedience is preferable than sacrifice. What I would ask all of you to do is pray and see what it is the Lord is asking you to do on this fight to end abortion. All it takes is one person stepping in and standing in that gap and pushing forward. Jesus Christ changed the whole world with 12 disciples. There are more than 12 people here right now, so imagine what we can do if we work together to ensure that we abolish abortion in this state.”
In February, Williams unsuccessfully attempted to pass legislation that would have banned abortion in Colorado. Rep. Patrick Neville (R-Castle Rock) attempted to pass similar legislation. Both bills were killed during a nearly 12-hour hearing, which would foreshadow the marathon hearings for the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA).
“We didn’t win the vote, but that’s not the end of it,” said Williams of his bill. “The battle belongs to God, and what we did was a victory. We laid a groundwork that can be built upon and pushed forward. I’m sure many of you are witnessing what happened. After my bill was introduced there was another bill, the Democrats they offered their bill to establish abortion, to establish homicide as an acceptable practice in the state of Colorado.”
Williams also addressed Republican efforts to stop RHEA. “We led a historic, 24-hour filibuster,” he said. “As great as that was, we still didn’t get the result we wanted, at least not in the immediate. I can tell you this. I can tell you what wasn’t reported on, what wasn’t discussed, was that every one of those legislators, 100 of us, we were given a clear choice: Life and death. There were those of us who chose life, but unfortunately the majority, all the Democrats, chose death. I guarantee you this — they are without excuse. They had not heard the kind of arguments that were given this year. This was the first time they had heard why life matters and why it is connected to the Gospel of Christ and why we were made in the image of the Lord. Now, they have no excuse, so on the Day of Judgment, when the Lord asks them about this very issue, they can’t cut and run, they can’t hide, they can’t say, ‘We didn’t know.’ That was worth it, and it was worth it for the people of Colorado to hear that very message.”
This afternoon, Governor Jared Polis signed RHEA into law, enshrining the right to an abortion under Colorado law. “With reproductive freedom under attack at the federal level, we’re taking historic action today to ensure Colorado remains a safe haven for folks in need of reproductive health care,” said RHEA sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales (D-Denver) in a news release. “Until today, Colorado law didn’t expressly protect the right to abortion care. We’re changing that because all Coloradans should have the freedom to make decisions about their lives and their futures. This landmark bill enshrines the fundamental right to abortion into Colorado law, and we sincerely hope other states choose to follow our lead. The health and well-being of millions of Americans depends on it.”
Durbin, who has advocated for executing women who receive abortions, seemed undaunted by the success of RHEA. “If you would, as worship to God, lay your lives down and commit to work together, to let people know about Dave Williams’ bill when it goes back in, and it will go back in … you will see abortion abolished in this state,” he said.
Durbin also criticized Christians for not doing enough to push back against abortion while focusing on LGBTQ people. “We are so ready — sometimes, maybe not enough — we’re so willing to say, ‘That sexual practice over there, that’s an abomination,’” he said. “We look at the man with a beard wearing a skirt and we say, ‘That’s an abomination.’ We love to feel icky about it and we should. An image-bearer of God repulsion of that sort of a lifestyle. You know what God’s word says in Leviticus and elsewhere about it. We’re proud to say, ‘God specifically lists that sin as abominable, it’s an abomination.’ We’re proud to stand up and say, ‘That sexual ethic and practice is an abomination before our Holy God.’ But you know what else is an abomination? Unequal weights and measures. Partiality [in not treating abortion as murder].”
A focus on both abortion and LGBTQ rights by evangelical Christian activists is a growing trend. Last week, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk spoke at Fervent Church in Colorado Springs, conflating the two issues as key points for conservative activists.
“The gender stuff and the pro-life stuff are separate, but you can put them in the same bucket which are kind of non-negotiables for the church, honestly,” Kirk said at the church, before going on to criticize churches and pastors who didn’t take a hard enough line on those issues.
Williams, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado) in the June primary this year, also encouraged the audience to push their leaders to take a firmer stance on abortion. “We have to start electing righteous leaders,” he said. “So often there are phonies out there. Not just Democrats, but there are sellout Republicans who claim to be pro-life, but they’re not really. They claim to be pro-life but then they’ll vote for a budget that funds Planned Parenthood. We have to kick them out. We have to hold our own accountable. How can we preach to the world a standard if we can’t have a standard in our own house? I told the committee members that day — all of them, Republican and Democrat — that whatever happens in this life, whatever actions I take not just as a legislator but as a human being, I’ll have to give an account. There will be a day of judgment, and I will have to explain to the Lord how I treated all of you, all of my neighbors, how I fought on this issue. Knowing that, how the Lord is going to be questioning me, and how I want to hear, on that day, ‘Enter in, thou good and faithful servant,’ I felt compelled that I had no other choice but to fight for the unborn.”
