As neighboring states ban abortion, patients are coming to Colorado seeking care
Denver, Colorado – U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper today joined reproductive health care providers, patients, and advocates to discuss the surge in demand for abortion services in Colorado following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Participants included Cobalt Advocates President Karen Middleton and Policy Director Najar, Dr. Emily Schneider of the American College of Obstetrician Gynecologists, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) Policy Director Katherine Riley and Strategic Communications Director Aurea Bolaños Perea, Dr. Kristina Tocce of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, ObGyn Resident Samuel Raine of Medical Students for Choice, certified nurse midwife Kelsey Laurer, and patients Christina and Roy Taylor.
“It’s been almost two months since the U.S. Supreme Court threw out 50 years of precedent and upended access to abortion and reproductive health care for millions nationwide,” said Hickenlooper. “Fortunately, Colorado has taken action. Now we need to make sure we have the resources to support the increased demand.”
“Colorado patients, providers, and advocates have felt the direct impact of the Supreme Court overturning Roe,” said Karen Middleton, President of Cobalt Advocates. “We appreciate Senator Hickenlooper wanting to hear directly from them about how he can help.”
“I was 20 weeks along when we went to our routine anatomy scan and learned our baby had no kidneys or bladder. He couldn’t produce or digest amniotic fluid. We learned that if I tried to carry him to term, he would be crushed in my uterus and would likely die inside me. If by some miracle he made it to full term, he would have died minutes after birth,” said Christina Taylor, who shared a personal story of her family’s need to access reproductive health care following a difficult diagnosis during pregnancy. “I share my abortion story now, at every opportunity I feel it can help people understand this issue, because I fear for people who now more than ever lack the ability to even make these decisions, much less make them with the security of in-state providers, supportive communities, insurance coverage, and financial means. When life inevitably throws curve balls we all deserve the dignity of compassionate abortion care. Because the fact remains that bodily autonomy is what allows families like ours to exist and thrive.”
Hickenlooper co-sponsors the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would protect those who travel to Colorado for abortion care and providers who treat out-of-state patients. He also supports legislation to codify the right to contraception, expand abortion access for servicemembers, protect access to medication abortion in states where it’s legal, and strengthen the Title X Family Planning Program.