Colorado’s Catholic bishops issued a strong statement opposing HB26-1309, warning that the bill’s broad definitions of domestic abuse could undermine parental authority and a father’s role in protecting unborn life.
The bill, titled “Abuses in Cases of Separation,” is intended to strengthen protections in domestic violence cases involving separation and custody disputes. But in a statement emailed to Zeale News, the bishops said the measure’s definitions of “coercive control” and “health-related abuse” could be used against parents who do not affirm a child’s “transgender” identity and against fathers who oppose abortion.
“Parents who attempt to offer compassionate care for their children suffering from gender dysphoria could have their parental custody rights revoked under HB26-1309, and their children removed from their homes,” the bishops wrote.
The letter was signed by Archbishop of Denver James Golka, Bishop of Pueblo Stephen Berg, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver Jorge Rodríguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Denver Samuel Aquila, and Kyle Ingels, diocesan administrator of Colorado Springs, according to the Denver Catholic.
According to the bill’s text, it would define “coercive control” as a “pattern of behavior that takes away the individual’s liberty or freedom and strips away the individual's sense of self, including the individual's bodily integrity and human rights.”
The bill passed the House 47-17 on third reading May 6. It crossed over to the Senate May 7 and was scheduled for second reading on the Senate floor May 11. The General Assembly is set to end its legislative session May 13, leaving little time for further debate.
Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), the bishops said parents have the “primordial and inalienable” right to protect and educate their children. They also noted that the “political community has a duty” to honor and assist the family and protect parents’ freedom to raise their children according to their moral and religious convictions (CCC 2221).
For that reason, the bishops argued, government policy should not allow children to be removed from their homes “because of the parents’ well-founded beliefs on human sexuality.”
The bishops also said the bill could classify a father’s efforts to save his unborn child as “health-related abuse.” They reaffirmed Church teaching that human life is sacred from conception and that direct abortion is gravely immoral, citing paragraph 2271 of the Catechism.
“Catholic Church teaching is clear on the problems within HB26-1309, which, if enacted, would detrimentally hurt society, and especially the family, which the law was intended to protect,” the bishops wrote.
They urged Colorado’s Catholics and concerned residents to contact state senators in the final days of the legislative session and urge a “no” vote on the bill. They also issued an action alert on the Colorado Catholic Conference website with a prewritten message residents can send to their state senator.