Catholic leaders said they are "mourning" the enactment of three more abortion laws in Colorado, arguing they remove women's choice and violate the First Amendment rights of Coloradans who want to support women in carrying a pregnancy through.
The Catholic leaders also accused Colorado's Democratic policymakers of preferring abortion over "life-affirming" care.
Gov. Jared Polis signed the three measures yesterday, a year after Democrats enacted legislation to enshrine abortion rights in Colorado statutes.
Senate Bill 188 inoculates patients and providers of abortion and “gender-affirming care” — services that includes social, psychological or medical interventions, such as hormone therapy and surgical procedures. Senate Bill 189 expands health insurance coverage for abortion, sterilization and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, Senate Bill 190 prohibits what supporters call "deceptive" advertising and the use of abortion "reversal" pills in crisis pregnancy centers.
"When pro-abortion lawmakers in the General Assembly tell Coloradans they prioritize abortion over life-affirming reproductive healthcare decisions, our hearts ache for those women who consequently lost their right to change their mind and those children who will not be allowed to live," the Archdiocese of Denver and the Colorado Catholic Conference said in statement.
"This new group of bills even includes a measure that forces all Coloradans to pay for abortion through their insurance premiums. This is not freedom, it’s immoral coercion," the bishops added.
The bill's supporters said the measures reinforce individuals' ability to make their own health care decisions.
"Today is really about freedom. Standing up to protect freedoms that are under attack, sadly, in many other states," Polis said in signing the measures. "That's not the Colorado way. We believe in the ability of individuals to make their own decisions. That's a really important value that we share in our state. These bills further that value."
"In Colorado, we've got your back," added Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, who sponsored one of the bills. "Let the passage of these three bills, as they are being signed into law today, stand as a testament to folks in this state and across the country that Colorado is a beacon of care. That we will support you."
The two sides clashed in framing the measures, highlighting different provisions to hold up or criticize.
To supporters, SB 188 is the proper response to fears that other states would seek the medical records of their residents who undergo an abortion in Colorado in order to prosecute them. Polis earlier issued an executive order, saying Colorado would decline "requests for the arrest, surrender, or extradition of any person charged with a criminal violation of a law of another state" for assisting a woman in getting an abortion.
The bill effectively codifies that executive order, prohibiting Colorado from providing information or using government resources to aid an out-of-state investigation or proceeding that seeks to impose civil or criminal liability — or professional sanctions — against a person or entity for engaging in abortion.
The new law also applies to gender-affirming care for transgender individuals.
To the Catholic bishops, the measure violates the First Amendment rights of medical professionals and medical centers or hospitals that do not provide abortion-related services or gender-affirming care, in addition to "(restricting) legal action against Colorado from states with pro-life laws."
To supporters, SB 189 is another step in ensuring access to abortion. The bill requires health insurance carriers that serve employers with more than 100 employees to cover abortion, sterilization and treatment of HIV and other STDs without deductibles, copays or coinsurance. For the small group and individual market, health insurance coverage depends on how it would affect premiums.
To the bishops, the measure circumvents Colorado's constitutional prohibition against public funding for abortion by requiring insurance providers to cover its full cost. The bishops also lamented that it increases access to contraception and abortion referrals to minors and removes parental notification requirements.
To supporters, SB 190 ensures that Coloradans aren't tricked into going to pregnancy centers by prohibiting the latter from advertising abortions, emergency contraceptives or referrals they don’t, in fact, provide. The bill classifies these acts as "deceptive" advertising.
The measure also bans the practice of using "abortion reversal pills" to try to stop a medication-based abortion — unless the Colorado's medical, pharmacy and nursing boards conclude the practice is generally accepted and thereby expressly permit it by prescribing regulations by October of this year.
The studies on "abortion reversal" are not conclusive, and the chances of Colorado's medical boards finding it to be a generally accepted standard of practice by this October are practically nil.
To the bishops, the governor and lawmakers foreclosed an avenue for women to save their child's life if they changed their mind after taking the first of two abortion pills.
"Babies who have been born to mothers who have taken progesterone during pregnancy are healthy and strong," the bishops said in a separate letter to Catholics. "Colorado is the first state to eliminate this choice of life for women."
During the bill signing ceremony, Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County, sponsor of SB 189, said Colorado voters already made their voices loud and clear — they support pro-abortion rights measures.
"We support access to the full range of reproductive care. We all value this. It's health care," Cutter said.
The bishops countered that Polis and Democratic legislators just told Coloradans they "prioritize abortion over life-affirming reproductive healthcare decisions for women, at the expense of the mother’s health and, even more grave, at the cost of countless children’s lives."
