NIRH Applauds Reproductive Rights Legislative Package in Colorado, Urges the State Legislature to Swiftly Pass Bills to Protect and Expand Access to Care
NIRH Partnered with Four Colorado Advocacy Groups To Champion Bills; Nearly Two Dozen Expert Organizations Sign On To Support Passage
New York, NY – Champions for reproductive freedom in the Colorado State Legislature introduced the Safe Access to Protected Health Care bill package to protect and expand abortion access in the state, thanks largely in part to advocacy groups including Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, New Era Colorado, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, and Cobalt Advocates – partner organizations of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH). NIRH and a swath of other expert organizations are urging the state legislature to swiftly pass these bills and Governor Polis to sign them to ensure greater access to reproductive healthcare.
The proposed laws would protect patients and providers from prosecution, decrease the cost of reproductive health care, and prohibit anti-abortion centers from using deceptive tactics targeted at pregnant people seeking abortions. As abortion access states see an influx in out-of-state abortion seekers, and medication abortion options like Mifepristone face threats from multiple lawsuits, supportive states must focus their legislative efforts on expanding and protecting access to reproductive healthcare. NIRH has been a leader in these efforts in states across the country, pushing for innovative policy action at both the state and local levels.
“We applaud our partners in Colorado for their steadfast commitment to advancing real and tangible solutions to protect and expand access to reproductive freedoms in their state and beyond,” said Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) and NIRH Action Fund. “As our nation continues to see vicious attacks against access to reproductive health care, including abortion, advancing innovative policy solutions like this package of bills is more important than ever. NIRH is proud to stand with our partners on these endeavors. We urge more states to follow Colorado’s lead in advancing bills that protect reproductive health care at the state and local level.”
“By introducing these new bills, Colorado state legislators have set a blueprint for other states to advance reproductive justice policies that protect the rights of pregnant people, both in-state and out-of-state,” said Katherine Riley, Policy Director at COLOR. “COLOR is proud to have worked with our partners, including NIRH, in securing the introduction of this legislative package to safeguard reproductive healthcare access. We look forward to Governor Polis signing this package, and urge other state legislatures to follow their lead.”
The bill package includes:
- Senate Bill 23-188 Protects from Prosecutions: Protects patients, providers, and assisters from interstate criminal and civil prosecutions. The bill also forbids the enforcement of arrests, extraditions, search warrants, court summons, or court subpoenas for protected healthcare. It also prevents Colorado state employees from assisting with interstate investigations related to protected health care, increasing privacy protections for providers.
- Senate Bill 23-189 Health Insurance Coverage: Decreases the cost of reproductive health care by reducing surprise billing and removing patient cost sharing for reproductive health including abortion care. Additionally, the bill covers family-planning-related services in the existing state reproductive health care program and clarifies that Medicaid’s non-emergent medical transportation service, Intelliride, can support patient transportation to abortion care.
- Senate Bill 23-190 Protects Against Anti-Abortion Centers (AACs): Prohibits anti-abortion centers from using deceptive tactics targeted at pregnant people seeking abortions or using advertising for abortion pill reversal as a deceptive trade practice. Also gives the Department of Regulatory Affairs the ability to discipline health care professionals who perform so called “abortion pill reversal.”
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The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) is an advocacy group that works directly with state and local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations to protect and advance equitable access to reproductive health care. Our strategy is to go on the offensive to pass laws that safeguard reproductive freedom. NIRH partners with communities to build coalitions, launch campaigns, and successfully advocate for policy change, so the fabric of reproductive freedom is harder to tear apart.