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Denver – Today, Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom launched their campaign for Proposed Initiative 89, a measure to protect abortion rights in the Colorado Constitution and ensure that the government cannot interfere with that right. The campaign committee, composed of a coalition of organizations, will be holding a series of statewide events, starting today, in commemoration of what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a decision overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022.
The text of Proposed Initiative 89 states: “A change to the Colorado constitution recognizing the right to abortion, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting the state and local governments from denying, impeding, or discriminating against the exercise of that right, allowing abortion to be a covered service under health insurance plans for Colorado state and local government employees and enrollees in state and local governmental insurance programs.”
The campaign will need 124,238 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, including 2% of the total registered electors in each of Colorado’s 35 state senate districts. Given voters’ strong record of supporting abortion rights in Colorado, this campaign intends to collect well over that number, ensuring Initiative 89 makes it onto the 2024 ballot.
Events are scheduled this week, starting in Denver on Monday, including Grand Junction, Pueblo, Greeley, and Montrose.
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Quotes from Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom Coalition Members:
“This ballot measure is so needed and so necessary at this critical moment. As a fundamental, shared value, Coloradans trust people and their doctors, not politicians, to make decisions about abortion. We believe in empowering people to live their lives in the best way for them.
In 2024, we can continue to be a beacon of hope for people who need abortion care, both now and in the future, by putting abortion rights in our Colorado Constitution so they are not subject to politics or politicians.”
-Karen Middleton, President, Cobalt
“These are sacred choices. An individual seeking reproductive healthcare should have the freedom to make that choice based on their own faith tradition, if they practice one, and should not have to worry about someone else’s faith being used as the basis for their own reproductive decisions.
“This constitutional amendment would ensure that religious freedom in reproductive healthcare is respected and protected for all Coloradans.”
-Shara Smith, CEO of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado
“Right now, state and local public employees and those enrolled in state health insurance plans don’t have coverage for abortion care. We know that while abortion might be legal in Colorado, a right without access is meaningless for communities such as ours, which are often marginalized from accessing the healthcare we seek when we need it.
“This ballot measure is our commitment to the Latine community that we’re fighting for a future where we can live safe, healthy, self-determined lives. Latinos across Colorado believe in protecting and expanding abortion abortion rights, and that there should be no government interference in decisions over our own bodies.
“According to the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda that we released last year, protecting abortion rights is a mobilizing force for Latino turnout, with 62% of them saying they are likely to support making abortion rights stronger in Colorado by allowing state-funded insurance programs to cover abortion costs. Abortion is a winning issue for Latino voters, and we’re going to make sure we win come November.”
-Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
“Time and time again, the youngest generations must reckon with the consequences of inequitable decisions made by our political predecessors. Reproductive rights–including a person’s right to obtain, afford, and access abortion care–remain one of the defining issues for young people in Colorado.
“We believe that health care must be accessible and affordable for everyone, and that includes making sure our state constitution reflects that abortion is a decision between patients and their health care provider, not politicians. This ballot measure is an opportunity for young people to enshrine our values in the Colorado constitution and ensure that we are the last generation living in a world with unjust abortion bans.”
-Nicole Hensel, executive director of New Era Colorado
“In the absence of federal protections, safeguarding Coloradans’ right to access abortion care is of the utmost importance. This year we have the opportunity to enshrine Coloradans’ right to abortion access in our state constitution, putting an end to insurance discrimination and establishing a clear boundary that keeps politicians from interfering in our personal healthcare decisions once and for all.”
-Fawn Bolak, Spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
“Everyone deserves full autonomy over their bodies, lives and futures. In a time of relentless attacks on reproductive healthcare, voters can find hope in knowing that we have an opportunity to enshrine abortion rights in the Colorado State Constitution this November. We look forward to joining the many states that have fought back against abortion bans and protected this essential right at the ballot box.”
-Deborah Richardson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Colorado
“Across the country, the right to abortion access and reproductive freedom are under an unrelenting attack. Once again, Colorado must lead the nation in securing freedom, liberty, and access to abortion care by codifying the right to healthcare – regardless of insurance status. This ballot measure is about Coloradans standing up for fundamental medical freedom in our state’s constitution.”
-Sara Loflin, ProgressNow Colorado