Colorados 2017 Legislative Session Proves Leadership Matters

The Colorado General Assembly wrapped up its 2017 Legislative Session on Wednesday, May 10th. With a 120-day legislative session, our wins and losses can happen fast. Colorado is a pro-choice state, so losses were kept to a minimum. We beat the bad bills that have passed in other states. We need continued leadership to ensure more wins and protect reproductive rights in the face of an increasingly hostile and threatening era.

We did win on a couple of big reproductive rights issues, passed a pro-active reproductive rights resolution in the House of Representatives, and came closer than we ever have before on enacting family leave. But making real headway on ensuring abortion and reproductive rights takes real leadership, now and into the foreseeable future.

Colorado HB 17-1186 allows women to obtain a full years worth of birth control pills at a time, rather than having to be renewed every month. It passed both the state House and the state Senate and is expected to be signed by Governor Hickenlooper. This was a priority for our Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice Coalition. It is a common-sense piece of legislation that will help women across all economic sectors access the birth control they need consistently, which is key to preventing unintended pregnancy. And at time when birth control access is under threat by anti-choice officials in Washington, it enacts a measure of protection for women here in Colorado. It is a wonderful example of proactive legislation that can be introduced in other states.

The state budget for FY 2017 - 2018 includes continued funding for Colorados award-winning, pioneering program supplying free or low-cost long-acting reversible contraception (IUDs and implants) to low-income women. This has been hugely successful at cutting the unintended pregnancy rate by as much as half in some areas of Colorado. Not only is this critical to ensuring individual women can better make their own life choices, including staying in school and economic stability, it saves taxpayers an estimated $6 in Medicaid costs for every $1 invested.

And in February, the Colorado House of Representatives passed HR 17-1005, Concerning Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care, with strong support. That resolution included the concept that All qualified health care professionals shall be able to provide the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion, and have access to appropriate medical training. The resolution didnt move to nor pass in the Senate, where anti-choice leadership would likely have prevented it from being introduced. But, the pro-choice House sent a strong message by drawing a line in the sand, as a pro-choice state Coloradans expect leadership on our rights from our State Legislature.

Another bill that earned strong support in the house, but was killed in the senate was CO HB 17-1307, known as the FAMLI act. The bill was crafted to create "a family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) program in the division of family and medical leave insurance to provide partial wage-replacement benefits to an eligible individual who takes leave from work to care for a new child or a family member with a serious health condition or who is unable to work due to the individual's own serious health condition." Creating the economic conditions to care for your family and children is central to true access to reproductive rights and we were proud to work in coalition with our allies and key partners to support this policy.

We are grateful to our pro-choice allies when we face anti-choice legislation. Our coalition defeated 5 anti-choice bills containing literally dozens of anti-choice policies including two bills that would have required doctors and the State of Colorado to provide information on abortion reversal, a misleading policy idea that is not based on science or research. This dangerous policy idea was being offered in other states and the 5-hour hearing for one of these bills included national figures in the anti-choice movement who flew in to lend their support. Another bill we deemed the Mega-Bill of anti-choice legislation as it was a laundry list of 10 anti-choice policy ideas included in a single bill, including ideas resembling the TRAP laws (targeted regulation of abortion providers) in Texas that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional.

With the increased pressure healthcare organizations and advocates are facing from our federal administration, we are proud that Colorado continues to not only hold the line but to remain leaders on reproductive rights. Colorado elected leaders know that in order to be truly pro-choice we must support policies that help women make choices across their reproductive lives, based on what they want and need for themselves, for their families, and not simply what their financial situation might dictate. We are grateful for the leadership exhibited this year and look forward to more bold policy moves in the upcoming legislative sessions.