(LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Samuel Aquila has come out swinging against a proposed “Right to Abortion” amendment that would remove virtually all restrictions on abortion up until birth in Colorado.
Aquila, who has led the Archdiocese of Denver since 2012, issued a stinging rebuke of Amendment 79 in an open letter to laity published last week in Denver Catholic.
BREAKING: Archbishop issues open letter to faithful urging opposition to dangerous pro-abortion amendment https://t.co/ABvmX74f30 via @DenverCatholic
— Archbishop Aquila (@ArchbishopDen) September 27, 2024
After reminding readers that Catholics are obligated to “promote the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death,” Aquila explained the main reasons why the measure, which needs 55 percent support to be approved, should be opposed.
“This proposition does three things contrary to the dignity of the human person,” he writes. “It creates a constitutional right to unrestricted abortion for all 40 weeks of pregnancy, eliminates parental notification laws and allows for taxpayer funding for abortions, which is currently prohibited.”
Aquila further pointed out that late-term abortions have been increasing in the state since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. He noted that “the pro-abortion lobby abuses heartbroken mothers and families to advance their cause.”
Aquila additionally recalled that “some Catholics today are lured by the voice of the serpent, as Adam and Eve were at the Fall, and support this constitutional amendment creating a so-called ‘right’ to abortion.” He then urged Catholics to withhold their support from the measure so it would fail.
Aquila, now 74 and just one year away from forced retirement, has been a reliable voice in the battle for the culture of life. For more than two decades, he has consistently stood for the pre-born.
In 2021, His Excellency denounced giving Communion to pro-abortion politicians and other heterodox Catholics who persist in grave sin. Also in 2021, he was one of more than a dozen American prelates who publicly endorsed a letter by then-USSCB president José Gomez published on Inauguration Day criticizing Joe Biden’s dissident, radical stances on abortion and sexuality. Aquila also supported calls for refusing Holy Communion to Biden in 2020 and chastised leftist bishops who claimed abortion is not a “pre-eminent” voting issue in that same year. He has spoken at many pro-life marches.
Aquila’s defense of orthodox Catholic teaching has not been limited to abortion. In November 2023, he issued a pastoral latter condemning the “disastrous” effects recreational marijuana use has had on his state. He has also excoriated pro-LGBT Cardinal Robert McElroy for wanting to give Communion to homosexuals and adulterers, who he said are living in “objectively grave sin.” Meanwhile, in 2022, he accused German bishops of “betraying the Gospel” in their pursuit of “the Synodal Path.”
To learn more about Amendment 79 and the danger it poses to unborn life, visit the website of Right to Know Colorado by clicking here.