Child autopsy bill vetoed by Gov. Hickenlooper

    Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed Senate Bill 18-223, known as the child autopsy bill.
    SB 223 — which was vetoed Friday, June 1 — would have placed restrictions on public disclosure, with exceptions, by coroners of an autopsy report for the death of a minor — curbing public and media access to such information.
    “History shows that bringing tragedies to the public’s attention is the greatest catalyst for public policy change,” Hickenlooper stated in the press release. “Transparency can lead to enhanced government protections, greater public and private resources, and heightened public understanding and demand for change.
    “We need not look far for examples in which public disclosure, media scrutiny and good journalism led to positive changes to prevent tragedies, particularly in areas such as child neglect, abuse and trafficking.
    “While crafted for the very laudable goal of protecting families from additional pain caused by public knowledge of a child’s death, we cannot ignore that SB 18-223 hampers public disclosure. And we are particularly concerned by the bill’s broad language limiting disclosure of not only youth suicides but any death of a minor.”
    The Colorado Press Association, the Colorado Broadcasters Association, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and the Colorado Springs Press Association all submitted letters requesting Hickenlooper to veto the bill, as well as met with his representatives outlining why they thought the bill was bad for the public and bad as public policy.
    “We would never want to minimize the feelings of any parent who has lost a child; this bill was a solution looking for a problem,” said Jerry Raehal, CEO of the CPA. “The coroners presented emotional arguments but could not present one single case in which the problems they cited actually existed.”

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