DENVER – Karen Middleton, President of Cobalt, and Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of COLOR (Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights), co-chairs of the Amendment 79 campaign, issued the following statements:
From Cobalt President Karen Middleton:
“Amendment 79 is not nullified by the federal bill. Instead, it becomes even more vital, making it more important to ensure Coloradans’ guaranteed access to abortion care. Coloradans have a constitutional right to access abortion under Amendment 79. But now, Colorado communities are being forced to navigate a system that delays, deflects, and denies.
The 2022 Dobbs decision allowed states to independently regulate abortion. Colorado responded by passing Amendment 79, which affirms Coloradans’ constitutional right to access abortion care. This Colorado Constitutional right will exist long past the current Administration.
This year, the General Assembly passed SB 183 to implement Amendment 79, specifically by using only state funds to pay for abortion. The implementation of Amendment 79 through SB 183 allocates state-only funding for abortion care, ensuring that state, not federal, funds are used for these services in Colorado. It is critical to clearly distinguish between federal Medicaid funding and state Medicaid funding when discussing these implications.
The recent federal budget bill, which should be called the Forced Birth Bill, penalizes Planned Parenthood not only for offering abortion services but also for providing comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including STI testing and contraception. It is a direct attack on bodily autonomy and the right to control a person’s own body, their reproductive health and freedom, and their social, economic, and political power. The bill imposes a punitive one-year ban on Planned Parenthood for offering these services, preventing them from receiving federal Medicaid funding during that period. An attempt was made to extend this ban to ten years, but the parliamentarian ruled against it, limiting it to one year.
The bottom line is that people with abortion care appointments should keep them. Those needing appointments should make them. And those who need procedural or practical support can reach out to the Cobalt Abortion Fund.”
Dusti Gurule, President & CEO of COLOR, emphasized that this vote was a clear mandate from the people:
“Colorado voters acted with clarity and compassion when they passed Amendment 79, affirming that abortion access should be available to everyone, no matter their income or insurance. Our communities believe in the right to make our own decisions. This was about self-determination and ensuring that those who have historically been harmed and excluded can access care with dignity.
But now, Medicaid patients in Colorado, many of whom are people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of faith, are already experiencing the impact. Trusted providers like Planned Parenthood have had to pause care because of federal restrictions that contradict what Colorado voters demanded. This is not just a political issue. It’s a racial and economic justice issue, and our communities deserve better.
The communities most impacted– BIPOC, immigrant, LGBTQ+, low-income, and faith-rooted people of Colorado– deserve better than a system that offers protections in theory, but abandonment in reality. That gap is exactly where our work continues.
Reproductive freedom is not a theoretical policy value. It’s a lived need. And right now, it’s a need our communities are being denied. COLOR has heard directly from people impacted by this crisis: from people of faith who made their abortion decision with prayer, to immigrant parents who trusted a provider for years and are being told to find someone new.
These aren’t fringe cases. They are the very people Amendment 79 was meant to protect. We owe them more than performative support. We owe them justice.”
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Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) is a community-rooted nonprofit organization that works to enable Latine individuals and their families to lead safe, healthy, and self-determined lives. Founded in 1998, we are Colorado’s only Latina-led and Latina-serving multi-entity reproductive justice organization. We bring an intersectional approach to our fight for reproductive justice, advancing issues impacting the Latine community in the areas of education, health care, civil rights, economic justice, and immigration.
Cobalt is a grassroots, statewide Colorado organization that advances abortion access and reproductive rights. Our organization began in 1967 when Colorado became the first state to allow safe, legal abortion. Cobalt believes nothing should stand between you and your health decisions, which is why we are dedicated to fighting for systems, structures and policies that protect reproductive rights and guarantee comprehensive, universal access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion.
