Amid a frigid blast of mountain weather and snow, scores of pro-life Coloradans gathered at the foot of the Capitol April 4 on the one-year anniversary of the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA). One of the most radical abortion bills in the nation at the time, RHEA finds itself in second place as the State Legislature prepares to send a new slate of even more radical pro-abortion bills to the Governor’s desk.
“I statistically should have been aborted,” said Rosemarie Scoggin, a student at Colorado Christian University. Conceived by a sophomore in college, Scoggin shared that in many other cases, her life could have been ended, but her birth mother chose life. “I can’t imagine what she went through, what she faced,” she continued, “I cannot wait to meet her one day and thank her for choosing life for me.”
“My life is a testimony of the beautiful gift of adoption,” shared Dr. Francis Smith. Dr. Smith, who was born with no ears or eye sockets because of severe craniofacial deformities in the womb, was given a chance at life by his courageous parents, who gave him up for adoption after birth. Placed in foster care with a “lovely older woman” for the first years of his life, Dr. Smith would later find a permanent home with the Smith family. “The Smiths had adopted nine other children before me and they adopted one after me, so I am one of eleven adopted children, all of us with special needs.”
“I am the person that the pro-abortion lobby uses as the example to justify abortion in our state,” said Tamra Axworthy, Executive Director of ‘A Caring Pregnancy Center’ in Pueblo. With personal experience of trauma, poverty, sexual abuse and difficult medical diagnoses, Axworthy adamantly insisted, “But I will tell you, there is no justification for the taking of an innocent life.”
Among those speakers featured at the ‘Rally for Life’ were physicians and medical professionals who spoke to the good work being done at pregnancy resource centers across the state and touched on the medicine and science behind the pro-life movement. Most powerfully, Dr. Catherine Wheeler, an OBGYN and former abortionist, offered a bit of her testimony.
“I’m the person who deserves least to be sitting here,” she told the crowd. “But I stand here in the grace of God, and I want to encourage you. Your prayers matter. They take people like me that God wakes up. I want you to know. I want you to know that when you see nothing but darkness, God is at work. I want you to know that when the legislators don’t even look at our faces, as I saw women and men weeping in front of them for the lives of these families, that God is at work.”
Photo by Neil McDonough
Regardless of the results from scores of polls, hours of debate, thousands of pieces of testimony and dozens of proposed amendments, “RHEA 2.0” heads to Governor Polis’ desk. “The data does not show Colorado wants that,” said Brittany Vessely, Executive Director of the Colorado Catholic Conference. “This is why this legislature keeps ramming through these bills within a week of introduction so they can try to pull the wool over the eyes of Coloradans who support life. 63% of Coloradans do not want extreme abortion in our state. That’s not what the pro-abortion lobby or the pro-abortion lawmakers continue to push.” Vessely summed the matter up well, saying, “There is a reason why this bill had bipartisan opposition and that these Democrats even voted against it: it goes too far.”
“Women deserve better,” said Scoggin. “Girls my age should not have to be told they cannot finish their education; they cannot go on with their careers. I am so fed up of hearing that women can’t. Women can.”
Even with the passage of “RHEA 2.0,” the local Coloradan pro-life community continues to fight on. Partnering with the National March for Life, Pro-Life Colorado will host the state’s first March for Life in April 2024 — not to be confused with the annual Celebrate Life events already happening in Colorado, which will now take place in June. A brand-new coalition of pro-life leaders from across the state, Pro-Life Colorado aims to be a unified voice in Colorado for the pro-life cause, advocating for the unborn amid radical pro-abortion legislation. With the help of the National March for Life, the coalition looks forward to gathering and galvanizing pro-life Coloradans to advocate for the dignity of the human person.
In the end, Vessely shared, “Our Colorado bishops and the Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs and the Diocese of Pueblo continue to stand for life. It will continue to be the preeminent issue for the Catholic Church, and it should be the preeminent issue for all state of Colorado, regardless of your political bent.”
While this particular legislative battle seems to be lost, the eternal battle wages on. Pro-lifers were encouraged throughout the rally — and indeed, every day — to continue to pray for life, for local legislators and for those in the abortion industry.
“I would encourage you to continue your prayers and pray for the abortion workers who are working so,” concluded Dr. Wheeler. “Please pray for the voices and the healing of everybody who’s been involved in the abortion industry.”
For more information on how to get involved in the local pro-life cause, visit https://cocatholic.org/take-action/.