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May 22, 2002
Infant Born Alive Protection Act dies in final days of legislative session
Senate committee rejects legal protection for newborn infants
A bill to ensure the legal status of newborn infants in Colorado was killed in the Senate Health, Environment, Children and Families Committee on May 3.
Legislators, among them various key Catholics, defeated a number of pro-life and pro-family bills, including a ban on cloning humans; a bill prohibiting naming same-sex partners as parents on birth certificates; and a tax credit for contributions to scholarship funds that provide assistance to low-income students.
The Senate also passed a resolution to restore "family planning" funding to Planned Parenthood. The Colorado Department of Health had removed the funding last December after an independent auditor found that the abortion provider had been receiving funding in violation of the 1984 state constitutional amendment forbidding the use of state tax dollars to subsidize abortion, directly or indirectly.
Jim Tatten, lobbyist for the Colorado Catholic Conference, expressed his disappointment. "Colorado's five Catholic bishops considered HB 1317 to be one of the most straightforward and reasonable pieces of legislation considered this session," he said. "The bill would have simply clarified that a newborn who is completely outside the womb and who is showing physical signs of life is a child, human being and person under Colorado law.
"How can a reasonable person disagree with that?" Tatten asked.
"While I do agree that people of goodwill can disagree on a number of important issues, like transportation or tax policy, I don't believe we can argue over the legal status or the respect due a living, breathing newborn infant," Tatten said.
"The defeat of HB 1317, in my opinion, begins to establish a legislative history which indicates that there might be a legal window during which a child's life could be taken without threat of civil, criminal or moral sanction. It is troubling to know that a number of legislators are on record supporting such an interpretation, including several Catholic legislators," he added.
Testifying in support of the Infant Born Alive Protection Act was Jill Stanek, a nurse who offered first-hand testimony of having seen newborns being denied access to food, water and medical treatment.
Sen. Rob Hernandez, D-Denver, chaired the Senate committee which voted to kill HB 1317. In addition to Hernandez, other committee members voting against the Infant Born Alive Protection Act were Senators Mary Ellen Epps, R-Colorado Springs; Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora; Deanna Hanna, D-Lakewood; and Doug Linkhart, D-Denver.
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