Colorado: Lessons from a sanctuary state for abortion in the US

In this corner of the West, some of the most progressive laws in the country have been passed in response to the Supreme Court ruling that struck down ‘Roe vs Wade.’ It is the fruit of years of work by activists and Democratic politicians

Iker Seisdedos
JUL 10, 2023

The alarm that shook activist Aurea Bolaños into action was the Texas Heartbeat Act, which was passed in September 2021. Mirroring many rules that would follow, it banned abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy, when most women do not yet know they are pregnant.

This was nine months before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, the landmark ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion in 1973. Texas’ proximity to Colorado — the states share a border with Oklahoma, which followed with a similar abortion ban — prompted Bolaños, along with other activists and lawyers, to ask what legal safeguards protected reproductive freedom in Colorado. “The answer was: none,” she told EL PAÍS from an office in downtown Denver.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/usa/2023-07-10/colorado-lessons-from-a-sanctuary-state-for-abortion-in-the-us.html

Frontline abortion workers in the US west are fatigued. Midterm results may make things worse

While Colorado remains a precarious sanctuary in the midwest, the west coast states have rallied to protect abortion rights

Claire Wang in Los Angeles
Fri 4 Nov 2022

States across the western US have seen a surge in women traveling for days and spending thousands of dollars to access abortion care in the five months since the supreme court overtuned Roe v Wade.

Providers and advocates are coping with the influx through a patchwork of groups providing financial and practical assistance to patients from the south, midwest and south-west, where more than a dozen states have banned or restricted abortion access.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/03/abortion-workers-fatigue-midterm-us-west

Demand for Colorado abortion care spikes as out-of-state patients face desperate circumstances

KUNC | By Robyn Vincent
Published August 5, 2022

On a recent Saturday morning in Boulder, thousands of people marched through the streets to protest the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Their voices were angry and hoarse as they chanted “abortion rights are human rights!” and “my body, my choice!” Motorists honked and raised their fists as the protesters clogged the sidewalks.

Moments before, abortion provider Dr. Kelly Peters told the crowd that Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center has been inundated with calls since Roe was overturned.

Continued; https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/open-spaces/2022-08-05/demand-for-colorado-abortion-care-spikes-as-out-of-state-patients-face-desperate-circumstances

“Women Are Going to Die”: A Late Abortion Doctor on the Dangers of Post-Roe America

Abigail Weinberg
July 19, 2022

Abortions that occur after 21 weeks gestation are vanishingly rare, accounting for about 1 percent of all abortions nationwide. The doctors who perform abortions later in pregnancy are even rarer: The 2013 documentary After Tiller cited just four doctors in the United States who performed abortions in the third trimester.

One of them is Dr. Warren Hern. He has operated in Boulder, Colorado, for decades, despite a constant onslaught of violence and harassment.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/07/warren-hern-boulder-late-abortion-doctor-interview-post-roe/

USA – Teenagers already face extra barriers to abortion care. It’s about to get worse.

Will states seeking to provide safe haven for abortion patients in the wake of Roe reconsider their parental consent laws?

Sara Sirota
June 19 2022

THANKS TO A draconian new law, a pregnant Texan who wants an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy now has no other choice but to leave the state. She could go to Louisiana or Arkansas, but they have tight restrictions and trigger laws in place to outright ban the procedure when Roe v. Wade is overturned. Nearby Oklahoma is not an option either, since the government already effectively outlawed abortions in May.

The only remaining neighbor is New Mexico, where patients who have the means to travel can receive care under some of the country’s most liberal regulations. But New Mexico’s clinics have limited capacity: In 2019, the state’s providers performed about 3,800 abortions, compared to more than 55,000 in Texas. For many of those unable to secure an appointment, the next closest option is Colorado, a state with no gestational age limits, waiting periods, or other controls.

Continued: https://theintercept.com/2022/06/19/abortion-minors-parents-roe/

Moving Backwards on Abortion Rights: Inside One Family’s Efforts to Expand Access

My Republican grandpa and Democratic mom both championed abortion rights as state lawmakers.

BY KATRINA FROELICH
MAY 27, 2022

It’s an interesting time to be a woman in America. While scrolling Instagram to see the latest fashion updates from the Met Gala, you might suddenly see a cutesy graphic that lets you know that a leaked draft opinion reveals that the Supreme Court intends to overturn Roe v. Wade. The modern woman finds out that they’re losing their abortion rights via pretty pink font, perfectly primed to be reposted.

Although I was raised in a family that always saw me as a person capable of making decisions about my body, the Supreme Court of the United States does not. I am the daughter of a Colorado legislator and the granddaughter of a North Dakota legislator. Both have cast pro-choice votes in two different centuries. Now, in many parts of America, I will have fewer rights than either my mother or my grandfather could have ever imagined.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/roe-abortion-access

How States Can and Should Protect Abortion Rights and Access

5/24/2022
by ELISABETH SMITH

For nearly 50 years, Roe v. Wade has guaranteed that abortion is legal throughout the U.S., but individual state policies have determined whether abortion care is in fact accessible or difficult, affordable or expensive, stigmatized or not. Looking ahead, individual state laws will be paramount to securing abortion rights and ensuring abortion access in the U.S.

Many states already have constitutional provisions or statutes that will ensure abortion remains legal in those states regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision. (See where your state stands in this digital tool, “What If Roe Fell?”) But the need is urgent for more protections at the state level.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2022/05/24/state-abortion-rights/

24.05.2022

Featured

News

Reproductive Health Equity Act

Reproductive Liberty Amendment

Roe v. Wade

state policy on abortion

Abortion access under renewed threat in Oklahoma and Missouri

By Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
Sun April 10, 2022

(CNN)While abortion rights advocates could secure several victories in US states in the coming days, they're sounding the alarm about an Oklahoma bill that would ban nearly all abortions that's likely to be signed into law. Here are some of this week's moves in state legislatures and by state leaders you may have missed.

Oklahoma sends near-total ban on abortion to governor
Oklahoma legislators passed a bill on Tuesday that would make performing an abortion illegal in the state, except to save the life of the pregnant woman in a medical emergency.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/09/politics/state-abortion-legislation-round-up-oklahoma-missouri/index.html

The right to abortion in Colorado is now guaranteed under state law

April 5, 2022
JOE HERNANDEZ

Colorado just enacted a law that enshrines the right to have an abortion in the state, the latest left-leaning state that's taken action to protect reproductive rights as the practice faces renewed efforts by conservatives to restrict its access.

The so-called Reproductive Health Equity Act affirms that pregnant people in Colorado have the right to continue a pregnancy and give birth or have an abortion, and it blocks public entities from denying or restricting that right.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/05/1091041608/colorado-abortion-law

05.04.2022

Featured

News

Colorado abortion law

Jared Polis

pro-choice legislation

Reproductive Health Equity Act

USA – While red states restrict abortion, blue states are voting to protect access

March 28, 2022
JACLYN DIAZ

As the country awaits the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on a case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, Democrat-led states are proposing laws to shore up abortion rights at the local level.

The effort is in direct response to the organized campaign to make abortion illegal. Dozens of states have enacted laws, or are considering them, to restrict access to abortion as the country awaits the Supreme Court's decision.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1088238619/legislation-abortion-bans