Almost 3,000 protesters gathered at the Colorado Capitol in downtown Denver on June 24, 2022, in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, which had guaranteed abortion rights. (Andrew Fraieli for Colorado Newsline)
The right to abortion will be enshrined into the Colorado Constitution after voters on Tuesday approved an amendment championed by reproductive rights groups.
Amendment 79 passed with 60.9% of the vote as of 8:34 p.m. The Associated Press called race at 8:26 p.m. As a constitutional amendment, the measure needed 55% of the vote to pass.
The measure adds new constitutional language declaring that state government “shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise” of abortion rights, including by “prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion.”
The amendment was backed by Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of abortion rights groups and other progressive organizations. The campaign in support of the measure raised over $8 million since its launch in late 2023, receiving contributions from a long list of donors topped by Colorado-based abortion rights group Cobalt.
Three campaign committees — Vote No on 79, Pro-Life Colorado Fund and Coloradans for the Protection of Women and Children — registered to oppose the measure and raised a combined total of about $250,000, according to disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office.
Though Colorado law already protects abortion rights, proponents of Amendment 79 aimed to enshrine them in the state Constitution amid a nationwide wave of anti-abortion legislation at the state level following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Additionally, the measure would repeal a 1984 state constitutional amendment that prohibits the use of public funds for abortion. Because of that ban, abortion care is not currently covered by health insurance plans for state and local government employees.
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