On Friday Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed three bills at a 2:00 p.m. gathering at the Governor’s Mansion, passed to further protect women’s reproductive freedom.
The three bills include:
Colorado Governor Jared Polis enters the House of Representatives chamber to make his first State of the State address to a joint session of the Colorado Legislature Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
SB23-188 Protections for Accessing Reproductive Health Care – Representatives Meg Froelich, Brianna Titone, Senators Julie Gonzales, Sonya Jaquez Lewis
“We’ve seen nationwide attacks on our fundamental reproductive freedoms, but here in Colorado, we protect those seeking or performing legal, reproductive health care, including abortion,” said Froelich. “This law codifies important protections for legally protected health care services to make sure our patients, providers, and assistors are shielded from interstate prosecution, retaliation, and imprisonment. We’re making it clear – Colorado will never extradite a provider or patient to another state because Colorado respects bodily autonomy, privacy and the right to make your own medical decisions.”
The bill requires contracts between insurers or other persons and healthcare providers regarding the delivery of healthcare services to include a provision that prohibits the following actions if the actions are based solely on the healthcare provider’s provision of, or assistance in the provision of, reproductive health care or gender-affirming healthcare services (legally protected health-care activity) in this state, so long as the care provided did not violate Colorado law.
SB23-189 Increasing Access to Reproductive Health Care – Representatives Dafna Michaelson Jenet, Lorena Garcia, Senators Dominick Moreno, Lisa Cutter
SB23-190 Deceptive Trade Practice Pregnancy-Related Service – Representatives Karen McCormick, Elisabeth Epps, Senators Faith Winter, Janice Marchman.
The bill makes it a deceptive trade practice for a person to make or disseminate to the public any advertisement that indicates directly or indirectly, that the person provides abortions, emergency contraceptives, or referrals for abortions or emergency contraceptives when the person knows or reasonably should have known that the person does not provide those specific services. Supporters of the bill said that this has been a problem with pro-life women’s health clinics, who have advertised themselves with deceptive descriptions, and instead of abortion or emergency contraceptives have pushed a pro-life agenda.
“We’ve made tremendous progress in Colorado to protect reproductive rights, but marginalized communities like people of color, low-income folks, young people, LGBTQIA+ communities, and immigrants still struggle to obtain the care they need – and [anti-abortion centers] (AACs) only make matters worse,” said Winter. “AACs use deceptive advertising practices to lure folks in and steer people away from abortions and other time-sensitive care by not providing them with the full, medically accurate spectrum of options. I’m proud of this new law that cracks down on AACs’ deceptive practices and makes reproductive health care more attainable and equitable for all Coloradans.”
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