The state of Colorado is on the front lines of the abortion battle, again. 

A group facing off against a November election ballot measure to ban late-term abortions launched an education mission Tuesday. Proponents with “No on 115” lined themselves up on a Zoom call to voice opposition to a bill loosely referred to as “Due Date Too Late,” or Prop 115. 

The proposition would ban abortions in Colorado after 22 weeks of pregnancy. 

“Let’s be absolutely clear. This is another attempt to ban abortion in our state,” said Justine Sandoval, Statewide Engagement Manager for Cobalt (formerly called NARAL), an abortion-rights health advocacy group. “Prop 115 asks us to make health care decisions for other people when we know that’s not our place.” 

Bill sponsor Giuliana Day says Prop 115 is a reasonable bill that allows abortion early on. “We are not going to try to restrict abortion. At 22 weeks, a baby feels pain. Abortion at 5½ months is too extreme.”

Colorado is one of seven states that doesn’t put a gestational limit on when a woman can get an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

A woman who ended her pregnancy after 21 weeks, when she learned that the child she was carrying would not likely survive, told reporters on Tuesday that Colorado was a safe haven for her during a horrible time. 

“I’m endlessly grateful to live in Colorado where there were no laws standing in my way to make the most difficult time in my life harder.” said Christina Taylor, who was told her baby had no kidneys or bladder. “It was important to me to let our son pass away quickly.”

Other speakers said Prop 115 injects politics into personal decisions. Dr. Kristina Tocce, a gynecologist, called the proposed bill a “one-size-fits-all approach to medical care … . Patients are unique and every pregnancy is different,” she said. 

The signature-gathering process for the measure was hindered by the coronavirus pandemic, and a judge allowed organizers more time to collect signatures after they initially fell 10,000 short of the 124,632 they needed. Day says they got the needed signatures during Governor Polis’ Stay-At-Home order. 

“During the pandemic, I was very concerned because churches and businesses were shut down. It was difficult to gather signatures,” she said. “We stood outside grocery stores, and each volunteer from all over the state talked to their social networks. It was pure grassroots.”

Prop 115 is the fourth attempt to restrict access to abortion in Colorado in recent years. Efforts in 2008, 2010 and 2014 all failed, and Amendment 67 in 2014 attempted to define a fetus as a person in the state constitution. 

Opponents say Prop 115 is an attempt to chip away at the landmark court ruling Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973.  More states are expected to challenge the protections of the decision by limiting abortion at earlier stages of pregnancy. 

“I’ve traveled the state from Fort Collins to Pueblo, from Greeley to Grand Junction and everywhere else in between,” Sandoval said. “One thing that we have in common is that we value independent choice, and we know that people can make their own decisions and have the right to do so.”

This story has been updated.