By Lucy Forde
With anticipation in the air for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, Americans hold expectations of change across many topics, including abortion. The news and social media tell us how the heat of the overturning of Roe v. Wade has affected people across the world, but what is happening here in Colorado? There might have been a different answer to this question a few weeks ago, but Nov. 5 offered a revolutionary change in Colorado politics.
Looking at the full scope of the U.S., abortion numbers have remained high since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, according to Guttmacher Institute. Over the past six months, there has been an average of 88,500 clinic-provided abortions in the U.S. states without a total ban, but it is important to note that clinic-provided does not include illegal and undocumented abortions. There has been an 11 percent increase in clinic-provided abortions since 2020 in states without a total ban, according to Guttmacher Institute. States that have legalized abortion with no limitations as of 2024 are as follows: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Colorado, according to the Guardian. Seven of these states were added via the 2024 election, meaning that safe places for women to receive care are expanding at the state level, even with the expectation that Roe v. Wade will not be revisited by the Supreme Court anytime soon.
For all Colorado residents, Amendment 79 was on the ballot this year, asking voters to either agree or disagree to adding the right to an abortion to the state constitution and allowing the use of public funds for abortion needs. While Colorado did not previously have a ban or time limit on receiving a clinical abortion, before Amendment 79, there were no state funds allotted to care facilities. On Nov. 5, 61 percent of Colorado voters voted “yes” on Amendment 79, repealing a 1984 ban that restricted government funds from abortion care.
Karen Middleton, the president of the Colorado reproductive rights organization Cobalt Advocates, told the Denver Post, “This is a victory of years of hard work and strategy to ensure our rights are protected by the constitution” and “the people of Colorado have spoken…our rights cannot be taken away by the stroke of a pen.”
In 2023, an estimated total of 26,300 clinic-provided abortions took place in Colorado, according to Guttmacher Institute. Many people from surrounding states with total bans, like Texas and Oklahoma, travel to Colorado to receive care, which explains why Colorado has higher numbers than some other states wherein abortion is legal on the East Coast, like Connecticut at 14,810 or Massachusetts at 21,600. However, places like California, with 179,200 clinical abortions in 2023, have much higher travel rates and populations than Colorado. In Texas, where clinical abortions are only performed for a medical emergency, only 62 abortions were reported in 2023, an 85% decrease after Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to Kxan Austin.
Amendment 79 opened more doors for Coloradans’ reproductive rights and many states are following suit as the battle over Roe continues into the next presidency.