Signatures for a possible Colorado initiative banning abortions past 22 weeks are due March 4, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a Louisiana abortion case.

That’s the kind of year 2020 is going to be for the always-divisive abortion issue. In Colorado, proponents and opponents of legal abortion are weighing their options at the ballot box and in the legislature. Across the nation, Trump-appointed judges right up to the Supreme Court are revisiting it via reviews of dozens of state laws passed in recent years challenging Roe vs. Wade. As courts skew more conservative, abortion is also guaranteed to be a campaign issue in the 2020 races for president and Senate.

“It’s a moment where we have to decide what kind of society we want to have looking forward and who gets to decide who gets to control our access to information about reproductive health care,” said Karen Middleton, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado executive director. “It’s information and access, and both of those are being limited by policies at the federal level and the Supreme Court. And ultimately, it could be a Supreme Court decision that could overturn a lot of this.”

What’s happening in the rest of the country is setting off major alarms for Colorado advocates who want to protect the state from reduced access both on behalf of residents and for women traveling from other parts of the country.

“In Colorado, it’s imperative that we hold our ground on this issue and continue being a safe haven for folks who must bear the burden of travel for their abortion care, while also continuing to expand access and affordability to reproductive health care for folks who already live in our state,” said Fawn Bolak, Keep Abortion Safe co-founder.

Within 18 months, an estimated 25 million women at a reproductive age are going to live in states with no access to abortion care, said Jack Teter, political director for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. Nearly a quarter of women have abortions by age 45, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that works to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights. Without access to care in many states, that leaves a wide gap, Teter said.

“It’s pretty clear to us that politically motivated restrictions and bans in other states don’t get rid of the need people have for access to abortion care,” Teter said.

Court fights over conservative laws



Laws seeking to ban or create new barriers to abortion keep piling up in states with conservative legislatures.

At the U.S. Supreme Court, June Medical Services vs. Gee is a challenge of a 2014 Louisiana law requiring a doctor performing an abortion at a clinic to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles — a requirement that could lead to most of the state’s abortion clinics shutting down.

It’s almost exactly the same as a Texas law the Supreme Court struck down three years ago. But with Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh now on the court, the decision could be reversed, as indicated by the justice’s unsuccessful support for letting the Louisiana law be enforced until the court hears the case.

This month, the top court declined to hear a case that would have challenged Kentucky’s law requiring transvaginal ultrasounds before allowing women to terminate pregnancies at less than nine weeks. That means the law will stand — and could be copied in other states.

In Colorado, a state that neither restricts nor guarantees abortions, a group called Due Too Late is making the latest stab at a statewide restriction. Organizers are trying to collect 124,632 signatures to add a measure to the 2020 ballot that would ban abortions after 22 weeks’ gestation.

If passed, the measure would make performing or attempting to perform an abortion past 22 weeks a misdemeanor, carrying up to a $5,000 fine. It would only penalize the provider — a doctor’s license could be suspended for up to three years.

Although the proposed measure makes an exception for a medically necessary abortion to save a woman’s life, it does not make an exception for cases of rape or incest.

“We are confident Colorado voters will agree abortion in the late second and throughout the third trimester of pregnancy is a violent violation of human rights and should be restricted,” co-sponsor Giuliana Day said.

The Colorado Republican Party supports the initiative, which stemmed from a grassroots effort.

“If Democrats oppose Colorado joining the 43 other states with limits on late term abortion, then they are the ones well outside the mainstream,” Colorado GOP vice chair Kristi Burton Brown said in a statement.

Democrats, however, note that Coloradans have rejected personhood measures three times previously, and this appears to be an effort to energize Republicans in a state where Democrats control the Capitol.

Some Republicans don’t believe the ban goes far enough: Colorado Right to Life calls the measure misguided.

In Colorado, there is a misguided Prolife group gathering signatures for a ballot measure that affirms abortion. A 22-week ban will not save even one baby but worse, it truly affirms abortion which is an affront to the Living God. https://t.co/so0Yf7uSHR pic.twitter.com/T6YDV1utYF — ColoradoRightToLife (@ColoradoRTL) December 12, 2019

Colorado abortion legislation

But state Rep. Shane Sandridge, R-Colorado Springs, says it’s about the message and chipping away at legal abortions slowly. Moderates may be more likely to support late-term restrictions, he said.

He plans to introduce a bill in the statehouse that emulates a Texas “born-alive bill,” which would require providers to perform lifesaving measures on any baby born, even if a doctor is attempting an abortion.

Neither it nor Republicans’ annual Life at Conception bill are likely to gain traction with Democrats holding both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office.

Meanwhile, while progressive lawmakers aren’t expected to try for a law specifically legalizing abortion in the upcoming year, they may introduce more limited bills to codify access to health care and reduce barriers to funding for abortions.

“Colorado is in an interesting spot,” Middleton said. “If Roe is limited or struck down, the decision returns to the states. At present, nothing protects or restricts access to abortion care. This means we can still legally access abortion care in Colorado in the absence of Roe. The barrier is cost and geography and there is still a parental notification, but those barriers exist today.”

Colorado House Speaker KC Becker said there’s a misconception about what the legislature needs to do for abortion rights access in Colorado because the state’s existing laws are strong and pre-date Roe vs. Wade.

“I think the focus largely is going to be on if there’s a ballot measure in 2020 and how to defend against that,” she said.

Still, Teter called the 2020 legislative session one of the most important to health care access.

“This is not just about us,” Teter said. “It’s about people all over the country that are looking to us for help because the states they live in aren’t able to give access to the health care they need.”

One of the bills Planned Parenthood hopes the General Assembly will pass this year is allowing Medicaid to cover abortions at more Colorado clinics than just the one designated. Otherwise, people in rural communities have to drive hours to access the care. Medicaid only covers abortions if they’re necessary to save a woman’s life or if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest.

Advocates are working with Democratic lawmakers to identify other barriers to abortion access and potential reforms.

Teter wants another issue addressed, though he said it likely won’t happen next year: ending the 1984 ban on public funding of abortions through state employees’ insurance policies except when necessary to save a woman’s life. The ban, which would have to be referred to the ballot for repeal, forces even sexual assault victims to pay out of pocket, Teter said.

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