Letter: Vote ‘no’ on Proposition 115
As our state addresses the harsh economic and public health concerns of COVID-19, the last thing we need is a restriction on any type of healthcare service, including abortion. Proposition 115 is a one-size-fits-all ban on abortion that has no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, threats to a woman’s health, or a lethal fetal diagnosis. Placing these restrictions on women and their families, especially as they continue to navigate a pandemic, is cruel.
Rural Colorado has always had challenges with health care access, and Routt County is no exception. Proposition 115 would further damage the ability of the medical profession to make sound health care decisions by placing increasing limits on reproductive health care. We simply can’t have politicians telling doctors how to practice medicine or telling patients they don’t have a right to make their own private medical decisions. Coloradans have long believed that we know what is best for ourselves and our families and that politics has no place in health care decisions. This is why the Colorado Medical Society, the biggest statewide organization for doctors and medical professionals, opposes Proposition 115 because it interferes in the sacred doctor-patient relationship. Every pregnancy is unique and whether to continue that pregnancy or not is a very personal decision between the female patient and her health care provider.
Voters in Colorado have consistently rejected abortion bans — in 2008, 2010 and 2014. In many cases, women who make the decision to have an abortion later in pregnancy do so because of a serious, complex health complication or a nonviable pregnancy. Patients must be able to weigh all of their medical options when faced with a difficult pregnancy outcome.
Bottom line is that licensed health care professionals should be the ones making recommendations about healthcare, not politicians or private interest groups. We know what is best for ourselves regarding important medical decisions and that is why I’m urging you to join me in voting no on Proposition 115.
Jane Toothaker
Steamboat Springs
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