We Asked, You Answered: Learning from Defeat
Sadly, Colorado’s Proposition 115—which would have finally prohibited medically unnecessary late-term abortions (five months or later) in the state—did not pass. Although Election Day did have some bright spots, like the passage of Louisiana’s Love Life Amendment and the election of numerous pro-life women to Congress, the inability to pass even the barest protection for babies in the Centennial State is extremely discouraging. We wrote on Facebook:
For those of you who live in Colorado, give us your thoughts on why Prop 115 failed and what pro-lifers should do for the next round to have more success. This defeat is very frustrating and sad, but we are in this work for life, so let’s review and prepare for the next fight.
Here are a few of the many responses, and it didn’t take long for a theme to emerge:
Hope R.: I saw no ads in support of prop 115 that I can recall. And the ads against it were full of misinformation. I saw several ads claiming “it’s an intentionally confusing proposition” and so called doctors claiming “it will restrict my ability to provide care to save the mother’s life.” Lies were shoved in our faces and very little was said about the truth.
Amy B.: Straight up there was NO money spent on it! I only saw two yard signs, no TV ads, no print ads. Nothing. People decided they’d rather throw money at candidates (some of whom are objectively terrible people) than at making actual substantive progress on abortion restrictions. I think if I’d heard actual facts from the pro-life side of the ballot issue it might have been different but all I heard was straight up crickets! Deafening silence from the ballot measure supporters. (And I run in pro-life circles and live in a conservative area of the state, so if I heard/saw nothing you can guess that most others got even less).
Keri K.: Big abortion money, completely lied on commercials about the bill, said Yes on 115 would not help those with medical issues, rape, ban all abortions essentially. Yes on 115 did not have any TV presences to combat this messaging
Hope R.: I saw no ads in support of prop 115 that I can recall. And the ads against it were full of misinformation. I saw several ads claiming “it’s an intentionally confusing proposition” and so called doctors claiming “it will restrict my ability to provide care to save the mother’s life.” Lies were shoved in our faces and very little was said about the truth.
Julie M.: I only just moved to CO, but from NY. (Please don’t hate on me I married into the state, lol.) I wasn’t following any polls but expected it to fail and was surprised at how well it did. I saw only ads against it, and they got “better” (more persuasive) with time, whereas I only heard of vote yes through word of mouth and a sign waver or two. The pro-life movement here needs to reach beyond its solid base and explain the brutality so that in a state getting darker blue, people still vote their conscience and not their party on abortion. Public opinion is on our side, but pro-life strategy needs a lot of work.
Ellen C.: Honestly, there wasn’t a good ground game past getting it on the ballot (and even that was shaky), and the abortion lobby was FLOODING the field with their propaganda.
Jesse B.: No one is going to want to hear this, but here goes nothing. Prop 115 failed, because people are tired of pro-lifers actually just being pro-birth. You want prop 115 to pass (which I voted yes on, so calm yourselves), but many of you stay on one side of the aisle for all other issues. Maybe if we could show people that we care about babies inside the womb, outside the womb, the babies who need WIC, and the babies who grow up to need college assistance by no fault of their own, our voices would be louder. Try voting away from party lines, and I guarantee you will bring many more people to the table to hear you out on abortion.
Sarah N.: Pro aborts lie through their teeth to convince people that these laws will criminalize miscarriage. Also Colorado has had several personhood amendments that were poorly written and failed miserably. So the left just ties these ballot initiatives together with the personhood. They say stuff like how many times do we have to vote this down. We will reject this again. The uniformed voter is easily swayed by this nonsense. On top of that most people have no idea what abortion is much less late term abortion.
Jay G.: I don’t know that it was made clear that Colorado is an outlier here. We’re one of a small handful of states that permit abortions so late. And comparing to other world democracies, most European countries permit most early abortions and prohibit most late abortions. I think too many people assumed “any restriction on abortion is a radical proposal,” without comparing to other standards.
Megan H.: People need to be educated on the fact that no medical condition is treated by abortion. Most people I’ve talked to about it, including my pre-med niece who lives in Boulder, are under the impression that late term abortion is used as treatment for medical conditions.
Samantha L.: A lot of people seem to think the majority of these abortions are fetal anomalies. That’s what I heard in my circles. We need to address that piece. Did I also see that the opposition completely over spent us?
[Photo credit: Wikipedia image of Colorado State Capitol, Creative Commons license]
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