Our Commitment to Justice
COLOR has cultivated a reputation as an essential leader and partner within Colorado’s state-level policy ecosystem. We have become the go-to organization for state decision-makers regarding reproductive justice, namely reproductive health policies, abortion rights, economic inequalities, and other critical issues impacting our community.
We work to address the harmful and inequitable impacts that systemic barriers create for individuals due to their immigration status, economic situation, faith, race, gender, age, physical abilities, sexual orientation, or gender identity. In coalition with other advocates and elected officials, we work with our community to identify policy solutions that enable all of us to live safe, healthy, and self-determined lives.
Our Policy Wins
Since our founding, we have consistently stood up to defend our rights and advance reproductive justice in Colorado, and 2018 was a pivotal year. That year, we shifted from playing defense to developing a proactive strategy grounded in our community’s brilliance and political potential.
We asked: What would it look like to wield policy power intentionally?
That question gave rise to the CARE Act, our first comprehensive, values-driven policy package that envisioned health equity and reproductive freedom for all. We knew the bill wouldn’t pass right away. But we introduced it anyway, because our goal wasn’t about immediate victory; it was about planting the seeds for a future led by us, not for us.
What followed was a transformational era of policy wins, not just in response to attacks, but authored by us. From the CARE Act came momentum, frameworks, and language that shaped future victories like the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA), OmniSalud, the Reproductive Health Care Program (SB9), and the Care Without Barriers legislative package. In just a few years, our boldness rewrote what’s possible in Colorado. This is what it looks like when Latinas, immigrants, young people, and LGBTQIA+ communities, who have historically been excluded, shape the future. When we’re not just centered, but leading.
2024-2025: Enshrining and Expanding Abortion Access Rights
- Co-led passage of Amendment 79, removing Colorado’s public funding ban on abortion care and enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution.
- Co-led passage of the 2025 Care Without Barriers package, including:
- SB25-129: Strengthens shield law protections for providers and patients.
- SB25-130: Establishes a state emergency care standard, regardless of ability to pay.
- SB25-183: Ensures Medicaid and state employee health insurance plans cover abortion.
2023: Protecting Access & Combatting Deception
- Led SB23-190, targeting deceptive practices by anti-abortion “Crisis Pregnancy Centers.”
- Co-led SB23-189 & SB23-188, expanding insurance coverage, provider protections, and youth access.
2022: Codifying Fundamental Reproductive Rights
- Co-led passage of HB22-1279, the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA) to modernize state law and protect rights to contraception, abortion, and birth.
2022: Cover All Coloradans
- Helped pass HB22-1289, expanding Medicaid coverage for children and pregnant people.
2021: Family Planning Access
- Passed SB21-009 & SB21-025, creating the Reproductive Health Care Program.
2020: Affordable Private Insurance Access
- Helped pass SB20-215, creating OmniSalud for low-income immigrants.
2019: Family Medical Leave Act
- Passed SB19-188, ensuring workers can take paid leave to care for themselves and their families.
2016: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
- Helped pass HB16-1438, securing protections for pregnant workers in the workplace.
Colorado Latino Agenda
To keep the community’s voice at the center of policy and accountability, we shape our priorities through close collaboration with community members and insights from our annual Colorado Latino Policy Agenda—the largest survey of Latine voters in the state.
The Colorado Latino Agenda (CLA) is an umbrella initiative over a comprehensive set of related programs co-run by COLOR and our close partner, Voces Unidas. The CLA comprises statewide public research and advocacy initiatives that publish relevant and timely data and in-depth reports about Latinos in Colorado, utilizing the findings as an organizing and advocacy tool.
The CLA currently consists of the annual Colorado Latino Policy Agenda poll (CLPA), the biannual Colorado Latino Exit Poll (CLEP), the annual state Latino Advocacy Day and National Latino Advocacy Day (LAD). The CLA seeks to empower communities to strategically inform and align stakeholders and decision-makers around demographics, pressing issues, and policy priorities for the Latine population in Colorado.
Find Your Legislator
We make policy and advocacy approachable and relevant for Latines in Colorado, starting with helping you learn who your legislators are. Once you know, you can email, call, or message them to share how policies they vote on affect your life and your community. Legislators value hearing from their constituents!