Colorado 2024 Regular Session

Colorado Senate Bill SJR003 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		Second Regular Session
2	2		Seventy-fourth General Assembly
3	3		STATE OF COLORADO
4		-	~~REVISED~~
	4	+	ENGROSSED
5	5
6	6
7	7		LLS NO. R24-0898.01 Katelyn Guderian x3205
8	8		SJR24-003
9	9		Senate Committees House Committees
10	10		SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 24-003
11	11		C
12	12		ONCERNING THE DESIGNATION OF JANUARY 22 AS "ROE V. WADE101
13	13		A
14	14		NNIVERSARY DAY". 102
15	15		WHEREAS, On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the1
16	16		United States found in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), that the United2
17	17		States Constitution protects the right to abortion; and3
18	18		WHEREAS, On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United4
19	19		States overturned the precedent established by Roe v. Wade (1973) and5
20	20		Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992),6
21	21		ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 142 S. Ct.7
22	22		2228 (2022) that the United States Constitution "does not confer a right8
23	23		to abortion" and that "the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the9
24	24		people and their elected representatives"; and10
25		-	HOUSE
26		-	Final Reading
27		-	January 19, 2024
28	25		SENATE
29	26		Final Reading
30	27		January 18, 2024
31	28		SENATE SPONSORSHIP
32	29		Gonzales and Winter F., Bridges, Buckner, Coleman, Cutter, Danielson, Fenberg, Fields,
33	30		Ginal, Hansen, Hinrichsen, Jaquez Lewis, Kolker, Marchman, Michaelson Jenet, Mullica,
34	31		Roberts, Rodriguez, Sullivan, Zenzinger, Exum
35	32		HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
36	33		Froelich and Garcia, Amabile, Bacon, Bird, Boesenecker, Brown, Clifford, deGruy
37	34		Kennedy, Daugherty, Duran, English, Hamrick, Hernandez, Herod, Jodeh, Joseph, Kipp,
38	35		Lieder, Lindsay, Lindstedt, Lukens, Mabrey, Martinez, Mauro, McCluskie, McCormick,
39	36		McLachlan, Ortiz, Parenti, Ricks, Rutinel, Sirota, Snyder, Story, Titone, Valdez, Velasco,
40		-	Vigil, Weissman, Willford, Woodrow, Young,
	37	+	Vigil, Weissman, Willford, Woodrow, Young
41	38		Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.
42	39		Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law.
43	40		Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law. WHEREAS, Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan issued a1
44	41		dissenting opinion in Dobbs, stating, "Whatever the exact scope of the2
45	42		coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain: the curtailment of3
46	43		women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens"; and4
47	44		WHEREAS, The surest protection against that curtailment of5
48	45		rights is now offered only by state legislatures and within state6
49	46		constitutions; and7
50	47		WHEREAS, Upon the Dobbs decision and again on the following8
51	48		anniversary of the 1973 Roe ruling, tens of thousands of Coloradans9
52	49		across the political spectrum took to the streets throughout the state to10
53	50		express their disappointment and rage; and11
54	51		WHEREAS, Overturning Roe has resulted in significant physical12
55	52		and mental trauma to, as well as significant financial burden on, people13
56	53		no longer able to access abortion care where they live and who must seek14
57	54		care elsewhere; and15
58	55		WHEREAS, Marginalized groups have been systemically denied16
59	56		equal access to abortion even before Roe was overturned, especially17
60	57		Black, Latine, and Indigenous people of color; people with lower18
61	58		incomes; and people in remote, rural, or underserved areas; and19
62	59		WHEREAS, On April 4, 2022, to secure the statutory right to20
63	60		abortion free from government interference in the face of the pending21
64	61		Dobbs decision, Governor Polis signed into law House Bill 22-127922
65	62		passed by the Colorado General Assembly, titled the "Reproductive23
66	63		Health Equity Act" or "RHEA"; and24
67	64		WHEREAS, On April 14, 2023, Governor Polis signed into law25
68	65		the package of three bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly titled26
69	66		the "Safe Access to Protected Health Care Package" or "SAPHC27
70	67		Package", which included Senate Bills 23-188, 23-189, and 23-190; and28
71	68		WHEREAS, Senate Bill 23-188 codified protections for29
72	69		Colorado's patients, providers, and helpers of abortion and30
73	70		gender-affirming care against out-of-state prosecutions, civil lawsuits,31
74	71		investigations, and extradition claims; and32
75	72		WHEREAS, Senate Bill 23-189 mandated that abortion be a33
76	73		covered service without deductibles, copays, or coinsurance under private34
77	74		003
78	75		-2- health insurance plans, which protects Coloradans on private plans but1
79	76		not the hundreds of thousands of Coloradans on publicly funded2
80	77		insurance plans; and3
81	78		WHEREAS, Senate Bill 23-190 categorized the deliberate false4
82	79		advertising of abortion services as a deceptive trade practice; and5
83	80		WHEREAS, The right to abortion is still not currently an explicit6
84	81		constitutional right in Colorado and has therefore been challenged 497
85	82		times since 2010 in the state legislature; and8
86	83		WHEREAS, Colorado voters defeated fetal personhood9
87	84		amendments, which are total abortion bans, by 30% (Amendment 67) in10
88	85		2014, by 41% (Amendment 62) in 2010, and by 46% (Amendment 48) in11
89	86		2008; and12
90	87		WHEREAS, In 2020, Colorado voters defeated Proposition 115,13
91	88		a 22-week abortion ban, by 18%, with more votes cast opposing it than14
92	89		President Biden received on the same ballot; and15
93	90		WHEREAS, Amendment 3 of the Colorado Constitution, adopted16
94	91		in 1984 by a margin of fewer than 10,000 votes, forbids the use of public17
95	92		funds by state and local government to cover abortion; and18
96	93		WHEREAS, While Amendment 3 passed by less than 1% of the19
97	94		vote in 1984, in 2022, exit polling during Colorado's midterm elections20
98	95		found 63% of voter respondents agreed that Colorado's constitution21
99	96		should be amended to protect abortion; and22
100	97		WHEREAS, Polling has consistently shown that a significant23
101	98		majority of Colorado voters support an amendment making abortion a24
102	99		constitutional right and repealing the prohibition on health insurance25
103	100		coverage for abortion; and26
104	101		WHEREAS, For the past four decades, as a direct result of27
105	102		Amendment 3, Colorado state and local government employees and28
106	103		Coloradans enrolled in state insurance programs have been denied29
107	104		insurance coverage for abortion for themselves and their families,30
108	105		resulting in discriminatory and harmful effects on those impacted; and31
109	106		WHEREAS, Colorado was the first state in the nation to legalize32
110	107		abortion and Colorado has since led the nation, at the ballot box and in33
111	108		003
112	109		-3- the legislature, and should continue to lead the nation in protecting1
113	110		abortion access without restriction; and2
114	111		WHEREAS, In 2024, Coloradans will be asked to vote on the3
115	112		general election ballot on a constitutional amendment protecting abortion,4
116	113		thus repealing the earlier, discriminatory Amendment 3 of the Colorado5
117	114		Constitution from 1984; now, therefore,6
118	115		Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-fourth General7
119	116		Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives8
120	117		concurring herein:9
121	118		That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly:10
122	119		(1) Recommend voters amend the Colorado Constitution to11
123	120		enshrine in it the right to abortion and prohibit Colorado state and local12
124	121		governments from denying or discriminating against the exercise of that13
125	122		right; and14
126	123		(2) Hereby designate January 22 of each year as "Roe v. Wade15
127	124		Anniversary Day".16
128	125		003
129	126		-4-