The right to an abortion has now become guaranteed in Colorado after Governor Jared Polis signed a bill Monday that enshrined the right into law.
Colorado now joins 15 states and the District of Columbia in codifying abortion into law with the signing of the “Reproductive Health Equity Act.”
HB22-1279 affirms that any Coloradan who wants access to reproductive care, which includes abortions, will be able to receive that care from within the state, even if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade.
In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in the Roe v. Wade case that the right to choose to have an abortion was protected by the Constitution. But soon, a Supreme Court stacked with conservative judges will hear a challenge to this decision, and experts fear the conservative judges will erode the right to access reproductive care.
However, over the past few years, this right has been eroded away, Polis said before signing the new law. Polis said that not only has Roe been weakened, but that there are risks federal protections of the right to have an abortion will cease to exist. He said Colorado does not want to take this risk, so therefore signing the right into state law will protect Coloradans’ rights.
Lawmakers in Colorado want to protect the rights that women already currently have under federal law in case these rights and guarantees are eroded, Polis said.
Thirty percent of states across the U.S. have codified the right to an abortion in the statute. For example, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont previously codified abortion rights, and California is considering more than a dozen bills to prepare for a Roe reversal. Washington has adopted a law that bans legal action against people who aid or receive an abortion.
Colorado was the first state to decriminalize abortion in the majority of cases in 1967.
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