After nearly 24 hours of debate between Republicans and Democrats, Colorado’s House of Representatives passed a highly disputed bill allowing unrestricted access to abortion.
State lawmakers began the discussion over House Bill 1279, the Reproductive Health Equity Act, Friday morning and finished at about 11 a.m. Saturday, The Colorado Sun reports.
The measure eliminates the need for parental notification and bans preborn children from having rights under the laws of the state.
Dr. Alveda King, the founder and leader of pro-life organization Speak for Life, says this bill is a crime against humanity.
“House Bill 1279 seeks to rob America’s weakest and most vulnerable population, the unborn child, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” King says. “This crime against humanity is unjust and inhumane. My uncle, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Abortion is a crime against humanity.”
According to its sponsors, “The bill, declares that every individual has a fundamental right to use or refuse contraception; every pregnant individual has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion; and a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent or derivative rights under the laws of the state.”
The debate over HB 1279 is said to be the longest in the House’s history.
“I’m so proud of our Colorado Republicans who fought ALL night and set a record for the longest legislative debate in state history to try and stop the most extreme abortion bill in the nation,” said Colorado Republican Party chair Kristi Burton Brown in a Saturday statement.
According to Colorado Public Radio News, pro-life protesters responded to the news by rallying outside the Capitol in Denver on Saturday.
“I think this bill is going way, way, way too far,” said Carrie Kudrna of Broomfield. “I don’t even want to live in this state if we do something like this. It’s just horrendous. We can’t promote that we’re the destination abortion center. We just need to protect lives.”
Several hundred pro-life advocates gathered, along with a small group of counter-protesters.
“We’ve been fighting for 24 hours,” Republican state Rep. Dave Williams told the crowd after leaving the chamber. “We did this for you, we did this for the babies, we did this for the unborn children who are in the womb. We did what we could, but the fight’s not over.”
A final vote on the bill could come as soon as Monday, at which point lawmakers would only be allowed to speak for a limited time. It will then move on to the Senate and through the Democratic-controlled legislature before making its way to the desk of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
Polis has reportedly said he will sign the bill into law.
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