Bill advances guaranteeing access to taxpayer-funded abortions in Colorado
A bill recently passed committee that would codify taxpayer-funded abortions throughout Colorado, likely leading to the state paying for upward of 7,000 annually.
Senate Bill 183 was approved by the state Senate in early March and passed its first hurdle in the House this week, on a party-line vote.
No Republicans have supported the legislation, while almost all Democratic legislators in the state are sponsoring it.
The bill codifies Amendment 79, which was passed with 62 percent support during the 2024 General Election. That amendment repealed the state constitutional amendment prohibiting the use of public funds to pay for abortions and added a state constitutional amendment recognizing the “right to an abortion.”
This legislation would expand family-planning-related services to cover “abortion care” for those on state employee health care plans and publicly-funded insurances like Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus. It also sets aside monies from the general fund to pay for the care, reducing the state’s reliance on federal reimbursement.
House Democrats applauded the bill’s passage out of committee.
“Given the uncertain future of abortion access in our nation, Colorado Democrats stepped up in recent years to protect reproductive health care in our state,” said state Representative Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon and speaker of the House. “Importantly, this bill expands reproductive health care coverage, which means Colorado's public employees can receive the essential care they need without jumping through hoops.”
During committee hearings, McCluskie added that the bill will save money for the state in the long run because “a birth is more expensive than an abortion.”
“Covering the cost of abortion care through Medicaid/CHP+ is also expected to increase the number of averted births by 30 percent,” said the bill’s fiscal note.
The note added that it is expected that 2 percent of the 333,330 females aged 15 to 44 enrolled in those health plans will seek “abortion care services” every year, meaning the state is anticipating and budgeting to fund nearly 7,000 abortions annually.
This comes as the Trump administration takes steps to end federal funding of abortions, including mulling a freeze of $27.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to Planned Parenthood and other organizations.
President Donald Trump also issued an executive order declaring that the Hyde Amendment must be enforced, which already restricts the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion.
Democrats in Colorado declared the state will continue to protect abortions “without government interference.”
“Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle abortion care and access or restrict funding all together, Colorado remains a beacon for reproductive freedom,” said state Representative Lorena Garcia, D-Unincorporated Adams County. “This bill upholds the will of the voters to ensure your fundamental right to access life-saving abortion care is never ripped away.”
Currently abortions are legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy in Colorado.
