Abortion is legal in Colorado, and there is no gestational age limit for the procedure. But there's also no constitutional amendment protecting it. That means a GOP governor and legislature could pass laws restricting access, unless the amendment passes.
Proposed Ballot Initiative 89 would change the state constitution to explicitly recognize "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."
It would also remove a decades-old prohibition on state health insurance covering abortion services for public employees and people on public health plans.
The Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom coalition announced it had secured more than 225,000 signatures, exceeding its goal of 185,000. The campaign needed 124,238 signatures to qualify.
Ballot initiatives in Colorado also need to be signed by at least 2 percent of registered voters in every Senate district; the group needs less than 100 additional signatures to account for three state senate districts where it has not yet hit that threshold.
"The news of Arizona's near-total abortion ban ultimately exposed just how vulnerable every state is, and will remain, without passing legislation that constitutionally secures the right to abortion," Jess Grennan, the group's campaign director, said in a statement.
Colorado is one of at least 11 states where organizers are seeking to enshrine abortion rights in a state constitution via a citizen-led ballot initiative. In Colorado, measures need to get the support of 55 percent of voters to pass, rather than a simple majority.
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