Access to abortion and gender-affirming care in Colorado will be strengthened by three bills signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis on Friday. They also cement the state’s reputation as a haven for people from other parts of the country where laws restricting the timing of abortion and sex reassignment apply.
At a signing ceremony at the state capitol, Police said he was proud of Colorado’s “reputation as a beacon of freedom, a beacon of choice, and a beacon of individuality.”
The bill passed by Congress a year after Police signed into law a bill that would allow nearly unfettered access to abortions at a time when abortion restrictions surged in conservative states after the repeal of Roe v. Wade. . His 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteed a minimal level of abortion access for nearly 50 years, until it was overturned in June.
“We passed this bill today to say ‘See you in Colorado’ and ‘I stand with you,'” said Sen. Julie Gonzalez, a Denver Democrat and major sponsor of one of the bills. , said in an emotional speech. Before the measures were signed. “The passage of these three bills, he said, will prove to the people of this state and the nation that Colorado is a beacon of care.”
The contents of the three new laws are:
Protecting abortion and gender reassignment care in Colorado from out-of-state legal actions
Senate Bill 188 To ensure that people who receive, provide, or assist with legal abortion or gender-affirming care in Colorado are not subject to criminal prosecution or lawsuits initiated in other states. I’m doing it.
measures will come accordingly to laws passed in conservative parts of the countryColorado, including Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma, restricts access to abortion and gender-affirming care with few legal hurdles.
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Under Colorado’s new law, state courts, law enforcement, and regulators are barred from approving or participating in out-of-state criminal or civil proceedings involving abortion or gender-affirming care.
Additionally, the new law is:
- It is common practice for states and local governments to effectively restrict access to abortion and gender-affirming care through licensing, permitting, zoning, or similar regulatory requirements that apply only to reproductive health care providers. Prohibited. The provision appears to be intended to address the situation that occurred in Pueblo last year. In this situation, the Pueblo City Council was considering ordinances that would prevent abortion providers from operating in the city, including requiring that abortion clinics operating in the city apply for licenses. The ordinance was eventually shelved indefinitely.
- Requires pregnant inmates to provide information on access to abortion and miscarriage management.
The bill was sponsored by Democratic Senators Julie Gonzalez of Denver and Sonya Jacquez-Lewis of Boulder County, and Democrats Meg Frorich of Arapahoe County and Brianna Titone of Arvada.
This action could be contested in court over how the sponsor changed the definition of “reproductive health care” to add gender-affirming care under the umbrella of the phrase.
The bill was originally intended to protect access to both reproductive health care and gender-affirming care, but bipartisan attorneys for the legislature said the original version of the bill was a single subject in the Colorado Constitution. After warning that it might violate the rules, Republican opponents countered. I am dealing with one topic.
of existing definition State law provides that “health care and other medical services related to the reproductive process, function, and system at all stages of life, including but not limited to family planning and contraceptive care. care; prenatal, postnatal, and birth care; fertility treatment; sterilization services; and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and genital cancer.”
The definition in Senate Bill 188 reads: This includes but is not limited to family planning and contraceptive care. Abortion care; prenatal, postnatal, and birth care; fertility treatment; sterilization services; and sexually transmitted disease and genital cancer treatment. “
Gonzalez defended the final version of the bill. “They are legally protected medical activities,” she said. “Gender-affirming care is reproductive health care, and reproductive health care is gender-affirming care.”
But Sen. Bob Gardner, a Republican from Colorado Springs, argued on the floor that the measure could still violate the Constitution’s single subject rule. It presents an interesting way to get around the problem,” he said. “It defines being an apple as being an orange. That must be absolutely contested and unconstitutional.”
Fine-tuning health insurance policies for abortion and other reproductive health care
Senate Bill 189 It’s probably the most technical of the three measures signed into law on Friday.
Starting January 1, 2025, the law requires large employers to cover the cost of abortion without policy deductions, co-payments, or co-insurance. There are exceptions for government employers. Abortion is their “faithfully held religious beliefs“
In addition, the new law will allow health insurance plans that cover sexually transmitted disease counseling, prevention, and screening issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, without cost-sharing, such as deductibles or co-payments. We are obligated to provide these services. It also states that compensation should include HIV preventative medicines.
The new law also:
- Research how to support patients undergoing abortion and other reproductive health services due to confidentiality concerns
- Ensure step therapy exemptions and prior health insurance approval requirements HIV treatment Applies to medications prescribed by licensed providers as well as pharmacists
- Include family planning services in existing state reproductive health care programs
- Modernizes 1970s law, removing outdated references to young people needing to be referred to a clergy or state health care provider to access contraception
The bill was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Moreno (D-Commerce City), Senator Lisa Cutter (D-Jefferson County), and Democratic Representatives Daphna Michaelson Jennette (Commerce City) and Lorena Garcia (Adams County). it was done.
Prohibit false advertising about abortion and potentially outlaw so-called abortion reversal
Senate Bill 190 Intended for abortion prevention and pregnancy centers, but applies to any organization claiming to provide pregnancy services.
Under the law, falsely claiming to provide abortion services or Plan B emergency contraception is also immediately considered deceptive advertising.
Finally, by October 1, the Colorado Medical Board, the State Pharmacy Board, and the State Board of Nursing agreed to each other as a “generally accepted standard of practice” to engage in abortion drug cancellation. Please discover that
Some states require abortion providers to tell patients that abortions can be undone, According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Claims about abortion and reversal treatments are “not based on science” and reversal procedures are unproven and unethical.
The bill was sponsored by Senators Faith Winter of Westminster and Janice Marchman of Loveland, as well as Representatives Karen McCormick of Longmont and Elizabeth Epps of Denver.
