Denver, Colo., Feb 13, 2006 / 22:00 pm
For six hours yesterday, members of the Colorado State Senate heard testimony from both proponents and opponents of a proposed bill which would greatly expand the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse seeking recompense. The problem, according to critics however, is that the bill targets only private and religious entities--an act which many call blatantly anti-Catholic.
All three of Colorado’s Catholic Bishops have spoken out against proposed Senate bill 143, which cleared a Senate Committee hearing late Monday and could now head to the full Senate floor.
While Senate president Joan Fitz-Gerald adamantly argues that the bill is not aimed at the Catholic Church, even Vincent Carroll, a secular columnist for the Denver Rocky Mountain News had to raise an eyebrow.
He explained in a recent column that the “only allegations Fitz-Gerald or anyone else seems to mention in relation to her legislation involve the church. And that the only organization already targeted by a smoothly functioning coalition of high-powered plaintiffs' attorneys and victim groups is the church.”