Colorado House Democrats on Thursday beat backthree Republican-sponsoredabortion bills, the most restrictive of whichwould have made it a crime for a physician to perform anabortion in most cases.

The hearing stretched past midnight before the final bill was killed, with emotional testimony from dozens of people, including medical experts, activists on both sides and women who had had abortions and later regretted it.

The measures to impose new restrictions on abortion were debated a week after the Democrat-controlled House passed a resolution reaffirming its support for abortion rights in the state. None of the bills had much chance of passing, something abortion-rights advocatesreiteratedoften leading up to the vote.

These three bills are more of the old, tired attempts to interfere with womens health care, said Sarah Taylor-Nanista, a spokeswoman atPlanned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, in a statement.

The first to be rejected, House Bill 1086, would have required abortion doctors to tell patients about a hormone-boosting pill that backers say can reverse an abortion in progress, as long as its taken before misoprostol, the second drug taken in the course of a chemically induced abortion.

In a 2012 case study involving six women, four reportedly gave birth after using the drug. But several medical experts who testified at the hearing likened the bill tothe state endorsingbogus science, sayingthere are no peer-reviewed scientific studies backing the drug, and a number of medical groupsdispute its effectiveness.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologistsdoesnt recommend its use, saying that simply not taking misoprostol is just as effective at preserving a pregnancy as the reversal drug.

Supporters of the billsaid it was vital that women considering an abortion were presented with all their options, while opponents decried what they called agovernment intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship.

This is an information measure it allows (a woman who has an abortion) to understand that after the first pill, theres still a chance that the pregnancy is viable, said state Rep. Dan Nordberg, R-Colorado Springs, one of the measures sponsors. This is simply informing her of the potential options no more, no less.

Why would we legislate the care a doctor provides a patient? countered Rep. Susan Lontine, D-Denver. politicians should stay out of the doctors office.

Another defeated measure, House Bill 1085, would have imposed new regulations on abortion clinics, requiring them to file detailed annual reports with the state and submit to regular inspections. It also would have required that clinics have certain advancedmedical equipment on hand, such as ultrasounds and resuscitation and life-supportmachines for infants.

Opponents likened it to a Texas law that was struck down by the Supreme Court for being too burdensome, forcing many abortion providers to close. Supporters disputed the comparison.

The third measure, House Bill 1108, echoes the personhood movement, which Colorado voters have rejected three timesat the ballot box.The bill would havemade it a felony for a physician to take an unborn life, defined as beginning at conception. It contains exceptions for cases in which a pregnant womanslife is in danger.

Democrats pointedly questioned the measures constitutionality, suggesting that passing the bill would subject the state to a costly legal challenge that it was likely to lose.

Do either one of you believe this bill is constitutional?State Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, at one point asked the bills two sponsors, Republican state Reps. Kim Ransom and Steve Humphrey.

Humphrey deflected the question, citing potential changes to the makeup of the Supreme Court: I believe the constitutionality of the Roe v. Wade decision is in big trouble.

If Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is confirmed, conservatives would likely still need at least another seat to hope for a reversal of the 1973 decision legalizing abortion. He would replace conservative Antonin Scalia, restoring the ideological split from much of the Obama era.

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Colorado House panel rejects three GOP abortion bills - The Denver Post

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