Colorado initiative to enshrine abortion rights meets signature goal

DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado coalition supporting a proposed initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution said it passed a milestone Friday after surpassing the campaign’s signature goal.

The coalition is called Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom and said Friday it had gathered over 225,000 signatures, surpassing a goal of 185,000. Proposed Initiative 89 looks to recognize abortion as a right and would also prohibit state and local governments from denying, impeding or discriminating against the medical procedure’s access.

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The campaign needs 124,238 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, which must include 2% of the total registered electors in each of Colorado’s 35 state Senate districts.

“As of today, the coalition has collected over 225,000 signatures — of which 48,175 have been collected from over a thousand volunteers,” the coalition said in a release. “The campaign has only three remaining state Senate districts in which to qualify — most by less than 100 signatures.”

The measure would also allow abortions to be covered by health insurance plans.

A dueling initiative effort would ban abortion access throughout pregnancy. Should that measure make it to the ballot, it could be passed with a simple majority, while the proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights requires the support of 55% of voters.

Abortion rights initiative would require health insurance coverage

The current initiative text states:

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Abortions are legal in Colorado, but the Protecting Reproductive Freedom group is concerned that the 1984 constitutional measure barely passed and that people on public insurance are barred from coverage by the insurance companies. The group argues that by making abortion a constitutional right, state employees will no longer be discriminated against.

Private employers in Colorado are required to cover abortion, a measure that was passed in the 2023 legislative session.

Cobalt President Karen Middleton, co-chair of Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, noted the recent Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade resulted in state governments removing residents’ right to abortion.

“As a fundamental, shared value, Coloradans trust people and their doctors, not politicians, to make decisions about abortion,” Middleton wrote in the release. “That value has been reinforced in 2024 with the overwhelming enthusiasm for our ballot measure, as demonstrated by thousands of volunteers in every corner of the state collecting signatures. And we firmly believe that this energy and enthusiasm will carry us through to winning in November.”

Campaign Director Jess Grennan pointed to the recent near-total abortion ban in Arizona and said it is an example of how vulnerable every state is without constitutionally securing the right to abortion.

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“Ballot measures like Proposition 89 are our first line of defense against government overreach and our best tool to protect the freedom to make personal, private healthcare decisions—a right that should never depend on the source of one’s health insurance or who is in office, because a right without access is a right in name only,” Grennan said in a release.

Once all signatures have been gathered, they will be submitted to the Colorado Secretary of State Election Division for verification. If there are enough valid signatures and no one protests the determination, the measure will be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot.

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