Amendment 79 This would enshrine an unrestricted right to abortion in our state constitution and endanger the patient population I have cared for throughout my 40-year career in metro Denver.

As a neonatologist, I was a pediatrician who specialized in hospital care of sick or premature newborns. In this way, I have cared for hundreds of premature babies and witnessed the evolution of medical care in this field. Whereas an extremely premature baby (28 weeks or less, full term at 40 weeks) often needs many intensive care interventions to survive. Those born beyond the 28th week of pregnancy (seventh to ninth months of pregnancy) often require only monitoring, warmth, and tube feeding to survive, and the vast majority of survivors live healthy lives with no developmental problems or disabilities.

There is no doubt in my mind or in the medical literature that premature babies at 23 weeks or 24 weeks of gestation are individual human beings who feel pain, recognize their mother’s touch, voice and smell, and experience better outcomes. Their mothers and fathers can be with them.

When held by a parent, they “settle” into restorative sleep and their vital signs are fairly stable, and skin-to-skin care (also called kangaroo care, held on the parent’s chest and warmed) is known to improve outcomes. On the other hand, premature babies respond with crying, withdrawal or attempts to escape from painful interventions, and great efforts are made by medical personnel to alleviate these discomforts in the modern Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Premature babies have a tremendous will to live and can overcome many serious and repeated life-threatening events, such as infections and surgical procedures, if given proper care.

It is currently legal in Colorado to perform abortions for any reason at any time during pregnancy, including the seventh and ninth months, although public funding may not be available for this purpose at this time.

While working in the University of Colorado Anschutz NICU, I had the experience of caring for a 32-week gestation baby who was born alive after an attempted abortion, was admitted to our nursery, and required only tube feeding and warmth to survive. He was immediately adopted by a family and remained hospitalized without complications. Who’s to say he won’t make significant contributions to his family, his community, or the world in general?