Colorado Drops all Restrictions on Abortion Access

Colorado Drops all Restrictions on Abortion Access


Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis signed a bill on Monday making it law that anyone can access an abortion, no matter the stage of pregnancy. There will be no limits on trimesters, or access.

“No matter what the Supreme Court does in the future, people in Colorado will be able to choose when and if they have children,” said Polis, according to the Colorado Sun.

“We want to make sure that our state is a place where everyone can live and work and thrive and raise a family on their own terms,” Polis said. He had previously said that he wanted to make Colorado a “sanctuary” state for those seeking access.

The legislature approved the bill, titled House Bill 1279 last month along party lines. Republicans argued that the bill was too sweeping, and the bill was debated in the House for 24 consecutive hours.

The five-page bill says a government entity in Colorado may not “deny, restrict, interfere with or discriminate against an individual’s fundamental right to use or refuse contraception or to continue a pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion.” It says that “a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus does not have independent or derivative rights under the laws of the state.”

According to the Sun: “Democrats introduced the legislation in response to questions about the future of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting the right to an abortion without excessive government restriction. The court could overturn the precedent as soon as June in a ruling in a case out of Mississippi, potentially opening the door for abortion restrictions in Colorado at the county or municipal level.”

Colorado is now the state with the fewest abortion restrictions.


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