Q&A with Jeff Hunt | On the abortion front

Jeff Hunt serves as director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University and is one of the most visible voices on the abortion debate.

Hunt said the conversation within the anti-abortion movement in Colorado revolves around a ballot measure in 2024 that is similar to Proposition 115, which asked voters in 2020 to ban abortion after 22 weeks of gestation, except when it is required to save the life of the mother.  

He recently noted that Evangelical Christians make up the single largest voting bloc of voters in the Republican Party, and abortion was a driving force in getting them to vote in 2016 and 2020.

“Now, it gets even bigger at this point,” he told Colorado Politics in a separate interview shortly after the leak of a draft opinion showing a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices are poised to strike down Roe v Wade, the decades-old decision that gave women the legal ability to get an abortion. 

In this Q&A, Hunt talked the draft opinion and its political and social ramifications in Colorado. His answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.   

Colorado Politics: What’s your take on the draft opinion itself? Can you highlight some of Justice (Samuel) Alito’s arguments that, from your perspective, are airtight?

Jeff Hunt: The opinion is long with a tremendous commitment to historical analysis of abortion law in America. What appealed to me most were his arguments regarding ordered liberty, which are found on page 31. That is the ultimate crux of the debate on abortion. How do you handle two competing interests for liberty. On one hand, you have the interest not to have children. On the other hand, you have the preborn child’s interest to live. Conservatives has a different view of liberty than liberals. Conservatives embrace an ordered liberty – this is the liberty that guided the American Revolution. Unrestricted personal liberty drove the French and Russian Revolutions.

Colorado liberals act as if abortion doesn’t affect anyone else. This is misunderstanding of freedom. It robs the life and all future possibilities of an innocent child. It is misconstrued freedom, French understanding of freedom, not an American understanding of freedom. Our freedom comes with responsibility and is guided by God and natural law.

CP: If that becomes the final opinion of the court, the fight shifts to the states. Can you tell me about the conversations within the pro-life community about a potential ballot measure this November? Do you think it’s feasible to get something on the ballot this year? Do you think the pro-life movement should wait until 2024?

JH: I think it’s unlikely we’ll see anything on the ballot this year. Conversations within our pro-life circles are looking at 2024 and running a ballot initiative similar to Proposition 115, which was the first pro-life ballot initiative to generate over 1.2 million votes in recent history. I think Coloradans will come around to the idea that totally unrestricted abortion, especially of viable children, is not good for our state.

CP: There already is a potential ballot measure, Initiative 54, which would define “murder of a child” and ban abortion, save in a few narrow cases. Do you think that this proposal, if it makes it to the ballot, would get the public’s support?

JH; Initiative 56 has no legal carve out for women who get an abortion. Many in the pro-life movement view women as victims of bad education from our public schools, popular culture, and abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. They may not be aware of how much development has taken place, believing the lies that their child is just a clump of cells. With no legal carve outs for women who get the abortion, they would be held liable for the murder of their child, essentially charging them with murder. Many in the pro-life community are not supporting this direction in law. Most in the pro-life community see women and children as victims of the abortion industry.  

CP: You mentioned in a CPR interview that the Centennial Institute is contemplating filing a lawsuit against the recently-passed legislation that enshrined abortion rights in Colorado’s statutes. Can you elaborate on the legal arguments against this law? 

JH: We’re currently talking to non-profit law firms about our options. From my perspective, there are three major flaws with the recent radical abortion bill. First, it specifically denies legal rights to a class of citizens – never a good idea if you look at American history and constitutional law. Second, it seems to place significant restrictions on local control. Could a city stop a Planned Parenthood abortion mill from coming into their communities? Likely not with this new law. Third, it raises serious questions regarding conscience rights for doctors, nurses, first responders. The Supreme Court is unanimously supporting religious freedom these days – see the recent Boston flag decision.