DENVER, CO, April 15, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Over the weekend, Archbishop Samuel Aquila asked Catholics in the Archdiocese of Denver to pray that an abortion-on-demand bill would fail in the state Senate. Yesterday, he asked those same Catholics to make a trip to the State Capitol to join him in prayer against the bill.
Senate Bill 175, introduced by two Democratic state senators, would effectively prevent “state or local policy” that “interferes” with the ability to obtain an abortion. The one-paragraph bill has been praised by one of its original sponsors as “the freedom to make your own decisions about your reproductive health bill.”
Aquila and others have a very different view, however. The Colorado Catholic Conference's executive director told local news that the bill could “[take] away the ability of current laws to stay in place, such as our parental notification law.” She also said that it would interfere with any legislation deemed to be reproductive-oriented in nature.
Representatives of the Church are not the only critics. One reporter noted that the bill “doesn't create a crime and it doesn't cost money,” asking “what's the point of making this into law?”
Aquila's letter to parishioners says, “It's starting to look like everything is hanging in the balance with the votes of one or two senators.”
He asked people to join him Tuesday at 3:00 P.M., Mountain Time, at “the Hour of Divine Mercy,” in order “to beg God for his intercession that this legislation is stopped.”
Aquila notes, “This is last-minute, and it's certain to involve some Holy Week sacrifices — not the least of which is the challenge of trying to find parking near the capitol — but I'm convinced that moments like this are far more important than we can possibly realize.”
A local CBS affiliate reports that the vote was delayed hours after hundreds of people, including the archbishop, rallied against the bill. Sen. John Kefalas of Fort Collins was excused from voting last night, and is reportedly still uncertain. The CBS affiliate notes that Kefalas “says reproductive decision-making is a right that should be protected, but he’s not sure whether the bill up for a vote is the right approach.”