Contact:
Aurea Bolaños Perea, 303-578-2601, aurea@colorlatina.org
Laura Chapin, (202) 236-6161, Laura@cobaltadvocates.org
Camila Navarrette, (323) 423-5898, camila@neweracolorado.org
DENVER —Today marks the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the constitutional right to abortion. The devastating decision upended nearly 50 years of precedent and stripped millions of Americans of their essential right to decide their own reproductive health care.
Since Dobbs, we’ve seen states across the country enact Draconian and dangerous laws that sacrifice pregnant people’s autonomy and well-being to advance blatantly political, anti-abortion agendas. Despite the work done in Colorado to protect reproductive rights and abortion access at the state level, there remains more to be done to make sure that every person seeking reproductive care in Colorado can access it in a timely and affordable manner.
Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom organized to get constitutional abortion rights on the November ballot for that exact reason: To cement the highest level of protections for the right to an abortion for every person in Colorado. As we get closer to November, the campaign and its participating organizations will continue to mobilize key voters to protect our rights, prevent government overreach, and preserve reproductive freedom in Colorado. Lead organizations offered the following quotes in response to the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision:
“Young people are the newest generation to consider the choice of starting a family or not, and the first to do so in a post-Dobbs world. We are issue-motivated voters who, as the largest and most diverse voting bloc in the state, have power in our numbers,” said Christina Soliz, Deputy Director at New Era Colorado. “Before some of us could even vote, we knew that Roe was the floor and never the ceiling. Now that we can vote, we will do everything we can to protect abortion care for all young people choosing to build lives in Colorado. We’ve turned out to protect reproductive rights before—here in Colorado and across the country—and we will do so again this November.”
“After two years of medical uncertainty and harm caused by the Dobbs decision, we celebrate the recent protection of Mifepristone in ensuring pregnant people can make informed and safe medical decisions,” said Shara Smith, CEO of Interfaith Alliance of Colorado. “However, these pivotal and unpredictable federal decrees emphasize the urgency of enshrining abortion rights in state constitutions. Working on this ballot measure with our partners unites us in protecting healthcare options for every Coloradoan.”
“For the past two years, our movement has remained steadfast in our mission to expand and protect abortion and all forms of reproductive health care for all Coloradans, “ said Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR). “The Dobbs decision created a stronger sense of urgency of support for access to reproductive health services, particularly for those who have long faced deep inequities in healthcare, like the millions of Latinas who are now subject to even more restrictive laws on abortion in our lifetimes. Despite the continued threats, we remain committed to our mission to protect reproductive freedom for all people and build a tomorrow in which we are all free to live safe, healthy, self-determined lives without government interference.”
“This year, here in Colorado, two years after that terrible day, we will restore what Trump’s Supreme Court took away,” said Karen Middleton, President of Cobalt. “Colorado has always been a leader on abortion access, but our work is not finished. Abortion is health care. Ensuring everyone in Colorado has equal access to abortion care is what drives us and it is why we will win in November.”
“The precarity of abortion protections at the federal level reminds us of the urgency of enshrining abortion rights into the Colorado Constitution this November,” said Deborah Richardson, ACLU of Colorado Executive Director. “Ensuring that all people can access this essential healthcare is critical in fulfilling our collective mandate of a just and equitable Colorado.”
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