DENVER — The Catholic governor of Colorado has vetoed a bill that would have forced Catholic health institutions to give information on the abortifacient drug known as the Morning After Pill. Most health professionals call the drug “emergency contraceptives” and routinely prescribe it to women after rape.
The bill did not have the necessary support in the House to override the veto. The Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, objected that the wording of the bill did not require that women be given the information that the drug often causes an early-term abortion.
Governor Bill Owens, a Republican and a Catholic, vetoed the bill that had been passed by the state legislature saying it discriminated against Catholic and other religious institutions forcing them to violate their own ethics guidelines.
He said the bill was ‘well intentioned,’ but that it was likely unconstitutional. Citing the rights of women to fully informed consent, Governor Owens said, “Without informed consent, a woman could innocently violate her personal, moral, and religious beliefs about when life begins.”
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
