Colorado’s November election saw the defeat of a ballot measure that would have prohibited abortion in every circumstance and curtailed access to contraception, in vitro fertilization and other reproductive health services. Amendment 67, with its definition of personhood that could have applied from the moment of fertilization, was defeated by a 2-to-1 margin.

Colorado for Equal Rights, the petitioners for the amendment, claimed that the state’s Catholic leaders supported the petition, but the Denver Post reported that the Colorado Catholic Conference never endorsed Amendment 67.

The bishops did speak out against the media campaign featuring Catholics who opposed Amendment 67, which was sponsored by Catholics for Choice and COLOR, the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. Although the bishops’ website said the campaign to defeat the amendment “misrepresents the truth and what the Church believes and teaches,” COLOR Executive Director Cristina Aguilar stated that “being Latina, Catholic and pro-choice is not uncommon. Amendment 67 impacts our community in a very real way.”