Colorado’s Attempt to Enshrine Unlimited Abortion

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Across the nation, state ballot boxes have become a battleground for life. In the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,[1] this November, Colorado faces a ballot initiative entitled, the “Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative” (“Pay for Abortions Amendment”). The ballot initiative seeks to amend the Colorado constitution to declare the “Government shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of [the right to abortion], including prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion.”[2] The amendment goes further by specifically removing the current constitutional prohibition on public funding of abortion.[3]

Unlike citizens of other states facing abortion ballot initiatives, Coloradans are being asked to declare not only that the state may not discriminate against the termination of a human life in the womb, but that every Coloradan must pay to extinguish that life with their tax dollars. Further, the Amendment also declares that a person’s decision to terminate a human life in the womb rises to the level of a protected class – meaning any action by the state, such as ensuring a woman is fully informed about the procedure or crafting health and safety requirements for abortion facilities, would be an act of discrimination. Note, this newly formed protected class for abortion would stand alone among those already crafted or being joined with it. It is the only protected class that involves the act of terminating another human being – thereby denying any protections the aborted child may have enjoyed, such as protections against discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, etc.

Colorado Abortion Industry Wants More

Although Colorado’s current law is egregious in that it provides no protections for women, adolescents, and the preborn[4], it pales in comparison to the Pay-for-Abortion Amendment’s financially incentivized reckless abandonment of human life.

The consequences of the unrelenting power of paying for abortions through taxpayer dollars must disabuse Coloradans of the amendment’s attempts to disguise abortion as healthcare. As discussed below in Section V, abortion is not healthcare. It is the intentional destruction of innocent preborn human life. Additionally, as the Supreme Court acknowledges in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, states have a legitimate interest in preserving prenatal life, mitigating fetal pain, and protecting maternal health.[5] The Amendment asks voters to compel Colorado to do the opposite.

The Pay-for-Abortion Amendment’s fallout would be devastating, especially for the welfare of Colorado women and their preborn children. The Amendment would enshrine abortion-on-demand throughout pregnancy into the constitution, increase the number of coerced abortions in Colorado, and further the harmful and false narrative that abortion is necessary for women to have equality and success in America. The Amendment does nothing to stop abortion activists from making the most dangerous place in Colorado the womb – establishing the state as a permanent abortion destination with financially incentivized abortion and endangerment of the health and safety of its residents both inside and outside the womb.