JOINT STATEMENT: RHEA Sponsors Condemn Draft SCOTUS Opinion Overturning Roe v. Wade

DENVER, CO – Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, Representative Meg Froelich and Senator Julie Gonzales today released the following joint statement on the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade:

We are devastated, but not surprised. This Supreme Court decision, if issued as drafted, will imperil the lives of those seeking an abortion and threaten the health, safety, and reproductive freedom of millions of Americans. States across the country will continue to pass restrictive anti-abortion legislation or outright bans, making abortion nearly impossible for some and sending doctors to prison for providing abortion care.

We are grateful for the Democratic lawmakers who joined with us to pass the Reproductive Health Equity Act to protect the right to abortion care in Colorado, and who understand that politicians shouldn’t interfere with patients’ private medical decisions. Colorado will not go back to a time when patients were forced to seek out unsafe abortions, putting their health and lives at risk. We will continue fighting to keep abortion legal for all Coloradans and the countless individuals who will be forced to travel to our state for care, or ​carry unsafe pregnancies to term.

Sponsored by Representative Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, and Senator Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, the Reproductive Health Equity Act updates Colorado’s laws to protect reproductive rights and establish a fundamental right to choose to continue a pregnancy and give birth, or to have an abortion.

At least 519 laws to restrict abortion care have been introduced in 41 states so far this year according to the National Women’s Law Center.

Colorado remains committed to ensuring abortion remains safe, legal, and accessible. Recently, House Democrats defeated three Republican-led bills that would have jeopardized that right, including:

HB22-1079, which would have placed an unconstitutional ban on abortion in Colorado with no exceptions. The bill explicitly directed Colorado to disregard federal law and federal court rulings and would subject Colorado judges who support access to abortion to impeachment. In addition, it would have allowed a private right of action against abortion providers, and potentially patients too.

HB22-1047, which would have banned abortion in Colorado with no exceptions. The bill would have also criminalized miscarriages and would have subjected abortion providers to imprisonment.

HB22-1075, which would have established a registry to track and surveil abortion patients and providers. It also would have created a roadmap for abortion opponents to identify and further threaten abortion patients and providers.