As the Colorado Democrats’ “Safe Access to Protected Health Care” package of legislation moves to House for consideration, Republicans have taken to talk radio to share their views on the proposed bills that target the marketing practices of anti-abortion centers and their use of an unproven pill to reverse an abortion, expand legal protections for patients and providers seeking reproductive and gender-affirming health care, and expand insurance coverage for those seeking reproductive health care.
“What we are doing here in Colorado is really just advancing death for no other purpose than to advance death,” said Rep. Stephanie Luck (R-Penrose) during an appearance on the Dan Caplis Show last Thursday. “I don’t believe that [Democrats] see it in those terms. I think that they see it as their moral imperative to provide women in these situations with this opportunity and with this choice. I think that they have framed it in their minds as the righteous cause.”
Republicans aren’t just taking issues with the protections for abortion, but also those for gender-affirming health care. “I think we should all be very concerned, and I think we stop terming it abortion and call it infanticide because it’s really the murder of babies,” said Rep. Brandi Bradley (R-Littleton) during her Thursday appearance on the Kim Monson Show. “The first one, [Senate Bill] 188, is forcing doctors and insurance companies to accept gender-affirming care, which involves sterilization and abortion. They have to do it. They don’t get a religious exemption.”
According to the Colorado House Democrats, the bill, which passed out of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, works to protect health care providers and patients from overreaching interstate criminal and civil threats. “Across the country and even here in Colorado, our fundamental freedoms are under attack from harmful transphobic rhetoric, anti-trans bills, and egregious attempts to limit who we are,” said Rep. Brianna Titone (D-Arvada) in a news release. “Our legislation protects those seeking gender-affirming and reproductive health care from politically-motivated, legal overreach by other states. For many people, having access to gender-affirming care is not only validating, but life-saving. This bill prioritizes patients and providers, protects our privacy and upholds your fundamental rights to reproductive and gender-affirming health care.”
Republicans also took issue with Senate BIll 23-190, which targets the use of deceptive marketing practices by anti-abortion centers. “I do believe that this bill will come after pregnancy centers, they’ll come after them by saying that their advertising is a violation and that it’s removing a choice that the woman can have and that they need to be abolished,” said Rep. Mary Bradfield (R-Fountain), during a Monday appearance on the Centennial Institute’s Frontier Freedom Hour. “Which is a shame because, as I see it, the pregnancy centers do not take anything away. They allow the couple to make their own choices. Either way, if they make the choice for life and really need counseling, help with prenatal care and doctors, and especially after the baby is born, all those care things that can be offered are offered through the centers.”
Democrats argue that anti-abortion centers prevent patients from receiving the appropriate care in a timely manner. “In Colorado and across America, maternal outcomes are declining, and anti-abortion centers that use deceptive advertising to draw in vulnerable people seeking care and misleading them with biased and inaccurate information about abortions and contraceptives are only making the problem worse,” said Sen. Janice Marchman (D-Loveland) in a news release. “People who go to these centers looking for help are often misled and stigmatized – the exact opposite of the safe and essential care we are beholden to protect as elected officials. Our bill will crack down on deceptive practices used by some of these bad actors, and is a proactive step we can take towards a future where Coloradans’ freedom to access essential and affirming reproductive health care is truly protected.”
Republicans also expressed concerns that banning “abortion pill reversal” is denying patients the choice to reverse a medication abortion. “I have such a huge problem with when the Democrats talk about a woman’s choice, but they’re they’re banning the abortion pill reversal,” said Bradley. “After you take the first pill for a chemical abortion and a woman changes her mind or has guilt about taking that pill, they’re not allowing progesterone, which is a naturally occurring hormone to be administered to keep the baby.”
Democrats and abortion advocates argue that “abortion pill reversal” is not supported by medical science. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “A 2012 case series reported on six women who took mifepristone and were then administered varying progesterone doses. Four continued their pregnancies. This is not scientific evidence that progesterone resulted in the continuation of those pregnancies. This study was not supervised by an institutional review board (IRB) or an ethical review committee, required to protect human research subjects, raising serious questions regarding the ethics and scientific validity of the results. Case series with no control groups are among the weakest forms of medical evidence. Subsequent case series used to support use of medication abortion reversal have had similar limitations, including no ethics approval, no control group, under-reporting of data, and no reported safety outcomes. A 2020 study intending to evaluate medication abortion reversal in a controlled, IRB-approved setting was ended early due to safety concerns among the participants.”
The safety concerns in the 2020 study involved three women who experienced vaginal hemorrhaging and needed to be taken to the emergency room. One woman needed a blood transfusion.
“We don’t have any evidence that disproves the possibility that abortion reversal exists,” said Mitchell Creinin, the study’s lead researcher, to Vice in 2019. “But I do have evidence that not completing the regimen as it’s designed is dangerous.”
Like many anti-abortion activists, the Republican opposition to pro-abortion legislation is rooted in their Christian faith. “We have a pastor that roams the hall and I asked him, ‘Do you come every morning and pray with me?’” said Rep. Rose Pugliese (R-Monument) during a Monday appearance on the Frontier Freedom Hour. “We have prayer groups for all of our legislators across the state, and those are so helpful because we actually do feel it within the Capitol. All the people are here to pray for us and support us. We all know we are here at this time for a certain reason.
“God put the 19 of us [Republicans] together here. I believe in that and I believe in His plan. It is legitimately the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. But I know I’m here to serve a purpose, and I will serve that purpose for His glory.”
Luck cites the Bible as the foundation of anti-abortion sentiment. “Scripture says that those who hate God love death, and the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord,” said Luck. “I would say that it really goes down to that idea. Do we have a God that stands outside and sets the standard and the value of life? Or are we ourselves the God of the universe and determine when life is valuable and when it’s not? I think really, that’s the crux of the issue.”
