Colorado green lights measure to enshrine abortion

The ballot measure enshrining the right to an abortion in the Colorado state constitution has passed.

The initiative — called Amendment 79 — makes abortion a constitutional right in Colorado and repeals the existing constitutional ban on state and local governments from funding abortion services.  

In addition, the measure makes it illegal for state and local lawmakers from “denying, impeding, or discriminating” against the right to abortion.  

Before the amendment passed, the Colorado state constitution had exceptions for its public funding ban in some circumstances — like when an abortion would save the life of a pregnant person. 

Colorado is one of nine states where abortion has remained legal at all stages of pregnancy after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that ruled the U.S. Constitution protected a person’s right to an abortion.  

It is also one of 10 states that had ballot initiatives related to abortion during the 2024 election. Before this measure’s passage, three states have constitutional protections for a person’s right to an abortion — California, Michigan and Vermont — according to the Guttmacher Institute.