{"id":43434,"date":"2021-12-02T16:09:51","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T23:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-democrats-announce-plan-to-protect-abortion-rights\/"},"modified":"2021-12-02T23:09:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T23:09:51","slug":"colorado-democrats-announce-plan-to-protect-abortion-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-democrats-announce-plan-to-protect-abortion-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Democrats announce plan to protect abortion rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stephen Parlato of Boulder holds a sign that reads \"Hands Off Roe!!!\" as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate Wednesday in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. (Andrew Harnik\/Associated Press)
Stephen Parlato of Boulder holds a sign that reads \"Hands Off Roe!!!\" as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate Wednesday in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. (Andrew Harnik\/Associated Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Democratic lawmakers in Colorado plan to introduce legislation next year that would protect abortion access in Colorado in light of a U.S. Supreme Court case that could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade precedent.<\/p>\n

At a rally in front of the Colorado State Capitol on Wednesday, lawmakers said they would introduce legislation early next session to codify protections for the full range of reproductive care, including abortions, into state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to ensure that Colorado is truly a legal and safe place for anyone seeking access to their right to reproductive care,\u201d state Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, said.<\/p>\n

That legislation, dubbed the Reproductive Health Equity Act, will be sponsored by Gonzales, state Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Greenwood Village, and House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. State lawmakers return to the Capitol on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur vision is a Colorado where abortion care is treated as health care, and when someone decides to have an abortion or seek out reproductive health care, they are able to get that care on the timeline they need with the support of the physician and health care providers whom they trust,\u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Dobbs. v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, a case that concerns Mississippi\u2019s 15-week abortion ban. That ban, if upheld by the court, could open the door for a reconsideration of the landmark case Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion in 1973. The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.<\/p>\n

Colorado lawmakers want to protect abortion access in case the court ruling erodes federal abortion rights.<\/p>\n

With Wednesday\u2019s oral arguments and the examples set by the Mississippi law and the Texas ban from earlier this year, the lawmakers said other states could be emboldened to enact their own abortion restrictions. Women from states with limited abortion access already travel to Colorado for safer, more accessible care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a world, and a Colorado, where abortion isn\u2019t just legal, but it must be accessible, affordable and supported in our communities,\u201d Froelich said.<\/p>\n

A ballot measure that would have limited abortion access failed in 2020, as did a 2008 constitutional amendment question that would have defined \u201cpersonhood\u201d as beginning at the moment of conception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right to abortion is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, and here in Colorado we\u2019ve made that clear at the ballot box over and over again,\u201d Froelich said.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, Colorado state Sens. Julie Gonzales and Faith Winter and Reps. Lisa Cutter and Meg Froelich read reproductive health proclamation during a rally in support of abortion rights Wednesday at the Colorado Capitol. (Quentin Young\/Colorado Newsline)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"From
From left, Colorado state Sen. Julie Gonzales and Reps. Lisa Cutter and Meg Froelich are seen during a rally in support of abortion rights Wednesday at the Colorado Capitol. (Quentin Young\/Colorado Newsline)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
How other elected officials responded to the SCOTUS case<\/div>\n

As the court heard oral arguments, Colorado\u2019s congressional delegation weighed in on the issue along party lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn case you haven\u2019t noticed, these laws are a relentless attack on Americans\u2019 right to abortion care. They\u2019re extremist, they\u2019re inhumane and they\u2019re wrong,\u201d Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat who represents Colorado\u2019s 1st Congressional District, said during a rally in front of the Supreme Court organized by the Center for Reproductive Rights.<\/p>\n

DeGette serves as the co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. \u201cBarbara and I are politicians, but we have a suggestion for you: Keep abortion decisions out of the hands of politicians. Keep abortion decisions in the hands of American citizens. That\u2019s where it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, agrees with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen make their own health care decisions, not politicians,\u201d he said in an emailed statement. \u201cThe Supreme Court has upheld that right for 50 years and it shouldn\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat who represents the 6th Congressional District, wrote on Twitter that the Roe precedent needs to stand and that today\u2019s case is about \u201cprotecting health care and defending the law of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter expressed concern about the court backtracking on precedent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health case has the potential to erase decades of progress made in the fight for reproductive freedom for women and families across this country,\u201d he said in an emailed statement. \u201cI will continue to work in Congress to ensure women have the constitutional right and the freedom to determine their own personal healthcare decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Republican Reps. Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn and Lauren Boebert all signaled on social media their support for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs SCOTUS hears arguments today on the Dobbs Abortion case let us remember, the freedom to choose life is a beautiful thing. I am pro-life and trust the Justices to make the right decision for the unborn children, and families of America,\u201d Buck tweeted.<\/p>\n

A decision in Dobbs. v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization is expected next summer.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

be introduced during next legislative session<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2612,394,28,22],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abortion","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-headlines","tag-us-supreme-court"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43434"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}