Letter to the Editor: Vote yes on proposition 115

To the editor,


To be sure, we are going through some confusing times.  COVID-19 has tested our country’s resilience as deep-seated issues of tragedy and restiveness have arisen.  Lives lost and damages caused by hurricanes and wildfires have heightened fears and uncertainties.  And there is an election ahead in two weeks, but who is counting?


There are issues of our times which appear to move beyond us and will be with us for years to come. 

But there is one issue included on the Colorado Nov. 3 ballot which we should be alert to, for a surprising gift is offered.  An opportunity for each one of us to make a vote for the precious gift of life for another person.  To vote Yes on Proposition 115 for babies who have achieved 22 weeks of life in their mother’s womb to be allowed the right to a natural birth.  That these little ones will achieve at least the status deserving of life-giving support and be freed from the threat of abortion.  For them to be given the chance to be born. Forty-three of the United States already recognize and guarantee this right of the 22-week-old unborn person.  Colorado yet does not.


The gift offered is not an inordinate request.  Scientific studies show the hidden, developing embryo can taste, smell and detect sounds, especially the voice of the mother, during the second trimester of pregnancy.  The developing heart begins to pump blood by the sixth week, and at week 10 he or she has the major organ systems and human characteristics which will be unique to him or her throughout the life ahead.  By week 22 the child is a vitally developed human being.  Many are born just so, even before that 22nd week, to live healthy, normal lives.  Under Proposition 115, these unborn children will have the opportunity to live and to be born just like every human being deserves.


It is truly always better to give than to receive.  The mail-in ballots are now in our homes.  Let’s be sure to vote yes, Proposition 115, to make this one difference, to bring it about, and to just say Yes for a change.


Bishop Stephen J. Berg
Serving Alamosa and Southern Colorado