Opinion ID: 1153336
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: abortion

Text: [The italicized portions are held unconstitutional or of no effect by the foregoing opinion.] 40-6-101. Definitions. As used in sections 40-6-101 to 40-6-104: (1) Pregnancy means the implantation of an embryo in the uterus. (2) Licensed hospital means one licensed or certificated by the Colorado department of health. (3) Justified medical termination means the intentional ending of the pregnancy of a woman at the request of said woman or, if said woman is under the age of eighteen years, then at the request of said woman and her then living parent or guardian, or, if the woman is married and living with her husband, at the request of said woman and her husband, by a licensed physician using accepted medical procedures in a licensed hospital upon written certification by all of the members of a special hospital board that: (a) Continuation of the pregnancy, in their opinion, is likely to result in: The death of the woman; or the serious permanent impairment of the physical health of the woman; or the serious permanent impairment of the mental health of the woman as confirmed in writing under the signature of a licensed doctor of medicine specializing in psychiatry; or the birth of a child with grave and permanent physical deformity or mental retardation; or (b) Less than sixteen weeks of gestation have passed and that the pregnancy resulted from conduct defined as criminal in sections 40-3-401 and 40-3-402, or if the female person is unmarried and has not reached her sixteenth birthday at the time of such conduct regardless of the age of the male; or incest, as defined in sections 40-6-301 and 40-6-302, and that the district attorney of the judicial district in which the alleged rape or incest has occurred has informed the committee in writing over his signature that there is probable cause to believe that the alleged violation did occur. (4) Special hospital board means a committee of three licensed physicians who are members of the staff of the hospital where the proposed termination would be performed if certified in accordance with subsection (3) of this section, and who meet regularly or on call for the purpose of determining the question of medical justification in each individual case, and which maintains a written record, signed by each member, of the proceedings and deliberations of such board. 40-6-102. Criminal abortion. (1) Any person who intentionally ends or causes to be ended the pregnancy of a woman by any means other than justified medical termination or birth commits criminal abortion. (2) Criminal abortion is a class 4 felony, but if the woman dies as a result of the criminal abortion, it is a class 2 felony. 40-6-103. Pretended criminal abortion. (1) Any person who intentionally pretends to end the real or apparent pregnancy of a woman by any means other than justified medical termination or birth commits pretended criminal abortion. (2) Pretended criminal abortion is a class 5 felony, but if the woman dies as a result of the pretended criminal abortion, it is a class 2 felony. 40-6-104. Failure to comply. Nothing in sections 40-6-101 to 40-6-104 requires a hospital to admit any patient under said sections for the purposes of performing an abortion, nor is any hospital required to appoint a special hospital board as defined in section 40-6-101 (4). A person who is a member of or associated with the staff of a hospital or any employee of a hospital in which a justified medical termination has been authorized and who states in writing an objection to such termination on moral or religious grounds is not required to participate in the medical procedures which result in the termination of a pregnancy, and the refusal of any such person to participate does not form the basis for any disciplinary or other recriminatory action against such person.