Free to Choose Life

By Rep. Scott Slaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Upon arriving at the Colorado State Capitol in September to be sworn in as the new State Representative for District 64, I was eager to join the state lawmaking enterprise and already had a few ideas for new legislation. Soon I was advised by veteran lawmakers to reconsider my goals. 

As one of only twenty-two Republicans facing a Majority Caucus of forty-three Democrats, it would be smart to tailor at least a couple of my early bills to topics where I might find agreement with members from the Majority Caucus. 

That sounded reasonable enough; what could go wrong? 

I have nothing but respect for the commonsense goal of “building bridges” where possible. Because I stand firmly in support of Pro-Life legislation, but also recognize the political and statutory reality of the state, I decided one of my first bills would promote and provide expanded choices for women considering abortion. 

That may sound “Pro-Choice,” but I am not “Pro-Abortion.” I prefer to consider this bill a “Pro-Life-Choice.” 

This bill, HB26-1105, is scheduled for its first committee hearing on March 10. 

If enacted, it would require that when a woman seeks information or services related to her pregnancy outcome, she must be provided with clear information about adoption alternatives, including the different types of adoption available and resources that can help guide her through that process. 

The goal of the bill is not to limit existing rights, but to ensure that women are aware of adoption as a practical option and have access to information that could help them consider that path. 

Newcomers to Colorado may not know that in 1967 it was the first state to legalize elective abortion. 

This was six years ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling. 

Recently, the right to abortion was placed in the Colorado state constitution by ballot measure, making it unlikely that a freshman Republican House Representative could change that law. However, adding a provision in law to offer pregnant women information on a variety of adoption alternatives does not repeal or violate any provision of current law that voters accepted. In fact, it adds to her choices. 

It may be argued that since nearly every adult is aware that adoption exists all across the country, it is unnecessary to require that adoption information be provided to pregnant women seeking healthcare options. That perception is mistaken. 

As an individual who was adopted at birth myself, I often have conversations with people and am no longer surprised when they have common misconceptions about life as an adopted child. Additionally, while it is true that the public has a vague awareness of adoption, there is not a widespread awareness of the variety of adoption choices or benefits, nor is there wide awareness of the large number of very famous people in all walks of life who were adopted at birth or as small children. 

Every single one of us is significantly impacted by at least a few examples of individuals who were adopted as infants. 

Do you own an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other Apple device? You can thank adopted-as-an-infant inventor and founder of Apple, Steve Jobs. 

Do you ever enjoy a quick lunch from the fast-food chain Wendy’s? You should know that its founder, Dave Thomas, was adopted as a newborn. 

Are you like me and did you enjoy 90s country music or the recent drama miniseries 1883? Be glad that singer and actress Faith Hill was adopted as an infant. 

This list could continue and would be long: Jamie Foxx, Ray Liotta, Melissa Gilbert, Colin Kaepernick, and some fifteen to twenty thousand other infants in the United States annually who may someday become famous athletes, scientists, musicians, artists, and inventors. 

The list of famous people alive today worldwide who were adopted as infants and are making enormous contributions to our world surely runs into the hundreds. If there were such a thing as an “American Adoption Registry,” the number would run into the tens of thousands. 

Without doubt, there are hundreds of adopted men and women serving as state representatives, mayors, and judges across our fifty states. 

Will that still be true twenty or fifty years from today? 

Sadly, the new and indisputable twenty-first century reality is that the future contributions of people adopted as infants may not be as impressive if the decline in infant adoptions, possibly due to the inequitably low amount of good information about adoption, continues. 

While hard numbers for adoptions are difficult to find because adoption services are widely dispersed among fifty states and are provided largely by private, nonprofit charitable organizations, few will dispute the decline in adoptions resulting from the explosion in the number of abortions in the last fifty years. 

It is time to reverse that calamitous trend and time for Colorado to adopt pro-adoption policies as wholeheartedly as it has adopted pro-abortion policies. That reversal should begin with the expansion of information about adoption choices available to women considering their pregnancy healthcare options. 

Scott Slaugh is a Republican member of the Colorado House of Representatives representing House District 64. Appointed to the seat in September 2025, he represents communities in Larimer and Weld counties. A military veteran and small business owner, Slaugh serves his first term in the Colorado General Assembly.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.