Late-Term Abortion Ban Initiative Qualifies For CO 2020 Ballot

A question about the prohibition of late-term abortions will appear on Colorado's 2020 General Election ballot in November, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office announced Monday. Proposed Initiative 120 has received enough signatures to proceed, officials said.

The proposition would ban abortions after the 22nd week of pregnancy in Colorado.

On March 4, proponents of the initiative submitted 137,624 petition signatures — over 10,000 more than the 124,632 signatures that are required for inclusion on the ballot; however, elections officials said they discovered that only 114,647 of the signatures collected were valid.

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Because of concerns over the spread of coronavirus, proponents of the measure were given an extension to receive an adequate number of signatures, and by May 29, an additional 48,689 signatures were submitted, elections officials said.

The proposed measure would make it illegal for a physician to perform an abortion or attempted abortion if a fetus' probable gestational age is at least 22 weeks. Exceptions would be granted if a woman's life is at risk; however a physician would have to consult with another doctor before going through with the procedure.

Physicians who are found guilty would be fined and face disciplinary action by the state medical board and a possible suspension of their license.