Abortion rights supporters gathered on the state Capitol steps in Denver on Tuesday after a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court called for overturning Roe vs. Wade. Photo: Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Colorado joins 4 other states as of early July that have abortion rights measures on the ballot. Also, hosting measures are Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and South Dakota. Another five states are still in the ballot signature effort, including Arizona.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, seven states have voted to defeat abortion bans or in favor of abortion rights in statewide measures, including red states such as Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio. This track record was the electoral backdrop that motivated Donald Trump to remove any language from the GOP platform that uses the federal government to ban abortion.
This year will be the first tests of abortion rights in presidential level turnout. Will conservative Republican turnout in red states help the anti-abortion position? Democrats, needless to say, hope for high Democratic and liberal turnout, to help their congressional and other candidates.
The Colorado constitutional amendment will add abortion rights protection to the constitution beyond existing statutory rights. It will also lift a ban on state payments for abortions, passed in 1984. Although it will need 55 percent, Colorado’s track record on protection abortion rights is overwhelming, having defeated bans in 2000, 2014, and 2020. Advocates also have $4 million for a campaign.
SEE: Where Abortion Rights Will (or Could) Be on the Ballot
Louis Jacobson, The Center for Politics, July 9,2024
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