Come November, Colorado voters will have the opportunity to prove their support for abortion rights in the Centennial State. In May, Coloradans for Reproductive Freedom gathered more than the 125,000 valid petition signatures needed to place Initiative 89 on the 2024 general election ballot.
As of this week, eight states, including Colorado, have certified ballot measures for the November elections, joined by Arizona, Missouri, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Dakota. Arizona currently bans abortions after 15 weeks; the proposed amendment creates the right to abortion until fetal viability, roughly 24 weeks. In total, reproductive rights activists in 11 states are pushing for pro-abortion ballot measures this fall. Advocates have collected enough signatures in Arkansas, Montana and Nebraska to place abortion-rights measures on the ballot.
If passed, the Colorado Right to Abortion and Health Insurance Coverage Initiative would not only create a right to abortion in the state Constitution, but it would allow the use of public funds for abortion, an issue narrowly struck down by Colorado voters in 1984.
The right to abortion care in the state was solidified in 2022 through a statutory protection, just a few months before the Roe overturn draft was leaked. This latest initiative would make it harder for the law to be changed by future legislature.
But even within that, particularly for the Latino community, when we talk about the issue as an issue of justice. … They understand, and they are with us.
Dusti Gurule, president and CEO of COLOR
The densely landlocked state of Colorado shares borders with seven other states, five of which either ban abortion completely or have highly restrictive abortion laws. Since Roe’s fall by the Dobbs decision, abortion restrictions have tightened in surrounding states leaving Colorado as a safe haven for abortion seekers, especially those needing to end complex pregnancies later in the term.
That being said, the state is crucial in providing healthcare resources to those living in an abortion ban state. Colorado remains one of the states closest to Texas, along with Nevada and New Mexico, where patients can obtain legal abortions. It is estimated that 4,440 people traveled from Texas to Colorado in 2023 to obtain an abortion, according to data from The Guttmacher Institute.
(Editor’s note: At-home abortions via medication abortion are legal, safe and available in all 50 states. The organization Plan C has a comprehensive guide to finding abortion pills on their website, which is continually updated and has all the latest information on where to find abortion pills from anywhere in the U.S.)
Dusti Gurule, president and CEO of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) and co-chair of Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, has been fighting for reproductive justice movements in the state for over two decades. Gurule noted that the initiative consists of simple, intuitive language, something that they worked hard to achieve.
The measure reads as follows:
“The right to abortion is hereby recognized. Government shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of that right, including prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion.”
“We worked really hard to get to that point—it’s very clear what it will do when we pass it,” said Gurule.
Since the Dobbs decision, Colorado has demonstrated its commitment to being an island for out-of-state abortions:
- In November 2020, Colorado voters shot down Prop. 115 with 59 percent of the vote, a measure that would have banned abortions in the state after 22 weeks of pregnancy.
- In July 2022, Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order stating that Colorado would not participate in out-of-state investigations involving abortion providers or patients.
- Last year, Colorado enacted a shield law providing further protection for providers and prohibiting government resources from being used in out-of-state investigations prompted by reproductive healthcare provided in Colorado. This includes other types of gender-affirming care, not just abortion.
But while these laws paint Colorado as a strongly democratic state, it bleeds purple. The Front Range has a strong liberal population—Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs—but, west of the Rockies and into the Western Slope, Trump flags fly high in rural areas.
That being said, the Christian nationalist opinions on abortion you can find scattered amongst local rural newspapers might be deceiving. In a poll published in May by the Rural Democracy Initiative, 55 percent of small-town and rural Americans find Trump favorable. However, aligning with small town Americans’ consistent belief in personal freedom without government interference, 74 percent believe that abortion should be legal.
Reaching Coloradans on abortion issues requires an intersectional approach, according to Gurule. “But even within that, particularly for the Latino community, when we talk about the issue as an issue of justice—in that we should all have not just the autonomy but the resources to be able to take care of ourselves—they understand, and they are with us.”
Just over 60 percent of Latinos are likely to support strengthening abortion rights in Colorado by allowing state-funded insurance to cover abortion costs, according to the 2023 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda.
Gurule noted that just five years ago, state lawmakers were unlikely to talk about expanding abortion care in Colorado unless they leaned heavily progressive. This has since changed.
“Our work isn’t just about abortion, it’s not just about the election, it’s about all of the things that comprehensively help us move the needle—and I feel like we have really changed our state and our ecosystem and even how elected officials talk about abortion care,” said Gurule.
Colorado is home to just over 14 million women of reproductive age, and there are still pockets throughout the state that lack resources. In many rural areas, people are forced to rely on pregnancy resource centers, fake clinics that do not offer a full range of services or birth control.
“It’s important that we continue to build to ensure that Colorado is a state where people who live here can lead an equitable life with resources. And, again, we’re not there yet in Colorado. And what’s happening throughout the country and our neighbors, Texas probably being the biggest one,” said Gurule.
In order for the Right to Abortion Initiative to pass, it must meet the supermajority requirement with at least 55 percent of the vote. But even so, organizers in the state remain optimistic.
“We’re doing both of these things again because we have to be bold, we have to challenge, we have to give people hope. When we talk to people I’m reminded how bold and sort of forward thinking this ballot measure is, and when we win we’re going to be a model for the rest of the country,” said Gurule.
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