Colorado's high court asked to stop illegal abortion funding
ADF, allied attorneys challenge $18 million in contracts awarded to abortionists with petition to Colo. Supreme Court
Tuesday, Aug 9, 2011
DENVER — An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed a petition with the Colorado Supreme Court Friday that asks it to review dismissal of a lawsuit and uphold provisions of the state constitution that prohibit the use of state taxpayer dollars to fund induced abortions. The lawsuit challenged the award of $18 million in contracts to a Planned Parenthood affiliate and a Boulder abortion clinic on grounds that the contracts unlawfully violate the Colorado Constitution by subsidizing abortion.
“The democratic process and the rule of law should not be sacrificed for the sake of benefitting Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said lead counsel Barry Arrington, one of more than 2,000 attorneys in the ADF alliance. “We are confident that the Colorado Supreme Court will acknowledge that the former governor and other state officials were not at liberty to ignore the will of the people on this matter. Colorado voters already decided the issue when they amended the state constitution to prohibit tax dollar subsidies to abortion providers. It is fundamentally wrong, particularly in tight budget times, for taxpayer dollars to be used to fund abortions.”
In 1984, Colorado voters approved the Abortion Funding Prohibition Amendment to the Colorado Constitution, prohibiting the direct or indirect public funding of abortion. In 1986, voters rejected an initiative to repeal the amendment. The Colorado Department of Public Health audited Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and its affiliate Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Services Corporation in 2001 and subsequently ended funding to them after finding that state funds were indirectly subsidizing their abortion operations.
Later, however, under Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director Jim Martin, the department disregarded the ruling and awarded five funding contracts to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Services Corporation and Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center--both of which provide abortions--claiming that only federal funds, not state funds, were being used. The lawsuit, filed in 2008 on behalf of Colorado taxpayer Mark Hotaling, contends that the contracts use state taxpayer funds to subsidize abortion in violation of the state constitution.
The petition in Hotaling v. Hickenlooper asks the Colorado Supreme Court to review the lawsuit, dismissed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, and determine that Hotaling has standing to challenge the state’s award of the contracts and that doing so violated the Colorado Constitution. The Court of Appeals ruled that state taxpayers do not have standing to challenge federal funds for abortion.
“On two separate occasions, the people of Colorado strongly expressed that no taxpayer should be forced to pay for a procedure that takes innocent human life. That’s why they amended the state constitution to put a stop to it,” said ADF Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton. “This is a simple matter of the rule of law. Government officials cannot circumvent the Colorado constitution simply because they prefer to impose public funding for abortion on demand and treat innocent life as a commodity by funding Planned Parenthood’s multi-million-dollar abortion industry.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
“The democratic process and the rule of law should not be sacrificed for the sake of benefitting Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said lead counsel Barry Arrington, one of more than 2,000 attorneys in the ADF alliance. “We are confident that the Colorado Supreme Court will acknowledge that the former governor and other state officials were not at liberty to ignore the will of the people on this matter. Colorado voters already decided the issue when they amended the state constitution to prohibit tax dollar subsidies to abortion providers. It is fundamentally wrong, particularly in tight budget times, for taxpayer dollars to be used to fund abortions.”
In 1984, Colorado voters approved the Abortion Funding Prohibition Amendment to the Colorado Constitution, prohibiting the direct or indirect public funding of abortion. In 1986, voters rejected an initiative to repeal the amendment. The Colorado Department of Public Health audited Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and its affiliate Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Services Corporation in 2001 and subsequently ended funding to them after finding that state funds were indirectly subsidizing their abortion operations.
Later, however, under Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director Jim Martin, the department disregarded the ruling and awarded five funding contracts to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Services Corporation and Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center--both of which provide abortions--claiming that only federal funds, not state funds, were being used. The lawsuit, filed in 2008 on behalf of Colorado taxpayer Mark Hotaling, contends that the contracts use state taxpayer funds to subsidize abortion in violation of the state constitution.
The petition in Hotaling v. Hickenlooper asks the Colorado Supreme Court to review the lawsuit, dismissed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, and determine that Hotaling has standing to challenge the state’s award of the contracts and that doing so violated the Colorado Constitution. The Court of Appeals ruled that state taxpayers do not have standing to challenge federal funds for abortion.
“On two separate occasions, the people of Colorado strongly expressed that no taxpayer should be forced to pay for a procedure that takes innocent human life. That’s why they amended the state constitution to put a stop to it,” said ADF Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton. “This is a simple matter of the rule of law. Government officials cannot circumvent the Colorado constitution simply because they prefer to impose public funding for abortion on demand and treat innocent life as a commodity by funding Planned Parenthood’s multi-million-dollar abortion industry.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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