Photo: Adobe stock
Gov. Jared S. Polis, D-Colo., recently signed the Reproductive Health Equity Act into law. While proponents of this new law deem it a victory for women’s rights, this is grossly inaccurate. Rather, this bill is nothing more than the state’s heartless and cruel stamp of approval permitting women to have abortions on demand.
According to the bill, every woman has a fundamental right to make decisions about her reproductive health and decide whether to continue a pregnancy and give birth or have an abortion. Moreover, the law prohibits anyone from restricting, interfering with, or discriminating against someone seeking to exercise this right. Finally, a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have any independent or derivative rights under the new law.
According to a statement by Colorado House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar:
“Enshrining the right to choose when it comes to reproductive health care, including the right to abortion, shows we trust Coloradans to make their own medical decisions. Politicians shouldn’t get to decide whether or not someone is ready to start a family. With the passage of this law and the governor’s signature today, we’ve taken a giant step forward to protect fundamental reproductive rights and abortion access in Colorado, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
The law, on its face, is vague and overly broad, which is why it is so heartless. Missing from the law is any language protecting the unborn baby. As a matter of fact, the law goes so far as to take away any such rights specifically. One can interpret the absence of such protections to allow for abortions at any time, no matter how far along a pregnancy has progressed.
For example, if a woman is eight months pregnant, abortion would seemingly still be permitted. Suppose a woman decides that she “doesn’t feel like” being a parent weeks before her due date. In that case, she can apparently exercise her “fundamental right” to abort the baby without any repercussions. The unborn child will have no say in the matter under this law.
This unchecked “freedom,” cloaked under the guise of “women’s rights,” will also encourage irresponsible and reckless behavior at the expense of the unborn child.
It is difficult to fathom how Democrats in the Colorado legislature could support such a cruel and heartless bill. The bill does not solely protect a woman’s right to choose. Had that truly been the goal, Democrats in Colorado could have specifically protected this right up to a certain point during the pregnancy despite Republican opposition.
After all, absent very rare and unusual circumstances, why would a woman have to wait until late in the pregnancy to decide to abort a child?
Rather than doing so, Democrat lawmakers in Colorado passed a bill allowing for abortion on demand. In doing so, they made their position loud and clear: In Colorado, an unborn child, no matter how far along, has absolutely no rights and is disposable for any reason whatsoever.
Mr. Hakim is an attorney and columnist. His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, American Thinker, and other online publications. He is also a regular guest on OANN’s Tipping Point, and has appeared on Newsmax, The Dave Weinbaum Show, and Real America’s Voice.