Colorado will force taxpayers to fund abortions; Gov. Polis says it's the 'will of voters'
The state of Colorado will require taxpayers to fund abortions as the state continues to place a high emphasis on abortion access.
Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 25-183 into law Thursday, authorizing the use of state funds to pay for abortions. The measure was previously approved in a 22-12 vote by the Democrat-controlled Colorado Senate and a 40-21 vote in the Democrat-controlled Colorado House of Representatives.
The vote fell along party lines in the Senate, with all Democrats supporting it and all Republicans opposing it, while one Democrat joined Republicans in opposing it in the House.
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While Colorado law required "all individual and group health benefit plans issued or renewed in this state" in some circumstances to "provide coverage for the total cost of abortion care," Section 50 of Article V of the Colorado Constitution has prohibited the use of public funds to pay for abortions.
Section 50 has now been repealed from the state constitution after 62% of voters approved Amendment 79 in the 2024 election. Amendment 79 established a right to abortion in the state constitution and allowed abortion to be covered in health insurance plans for state and local government employees as well as those enrolled in state and local government insurance programs.
In addition to removing all language referencing Section 50 from Colorado state law, the legislation appropriates $1.5 million in state taxpayer funds to pay for abortion reimbursements.
As explained in a fiscal note accompanying the legislation, "The bill mandates that all abortion care services be reimbursed exclusively with state funds, thereby shifting the cost of existing federally approved abortions to state funding."
Before the passage of Senate Bill 25-183, the state's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing only reimbursed "abortion care services in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment, as required by federal law," according to the note. Insurance plans for state and local government employees did not cover costs associated with abortions.
Senate Bill 25-183 requires the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to cover abortions for those enrolled in Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus programs using state funds.
Polis cheered the legislation as a positive development.
"In the Free State of Colorado, we are protecting Coloradans' healthcare freedoms, while leaders in DC and across the country are focused on bringing government between doctors and patients, overreaching into our families and lives," Polis said. "This past November, Coloradans from every walk of life overwhelmingly voted to enshrine reproductive freedom into our constitution."
"We are aligning our laws with the will of voters to strengthen access to reproductive care, protect our privacy from Washington, DC, and safeguard freedoms," Polis continued.
His remarks reflect concerns about policies implemented by the Trump administration as well as the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organizationdecision that overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Senate Bill 25-183 was not the only abortion measure signed into law by Polis Thursday, as he approved Senate Bill 25-129. The bill declares, "It is against the public policy of this state for the law of another state to authorize a person to bring a civil action against another person or entity for engaging or attempting or intending to engage" in an abortion.
The legislation also prohibits state entities from providing information or using state resources to further any out-of-state investigation or federal investigation "seeking to impose civil or criminal liability or professional sanction upon a person or entity for engaging in" an abortion.
Even before Polis' approval of Senate Bill 25-183 and Senate Bill 25-129, Colorado had some of the most liberal abortion laws in the U.S.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion think tank, has identified Colorado as one of nine states that do not have a gestational limit on abortion, meaning that abortions are available throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
