With seven amendments to the Colorado Constitution appearing on November’s ballot, one issue looms at the forefront of many people’s minds: abortion. Codifying the right to an abortion in the state constitution would also overturn the ban on using state and local funds to reimburse abortion services. If the political climate in Colorado changes in the future, Amendment 79 would also serve as a protective measure limiting legislation that would more strictly regulate abortion.

After the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, states scrambled to pass legislation either restricting or protecting abortion access. The Colorado legislature implemented many protections for reproductive health care in response, a standout in the mountain west.

Amber Wright, a senior political science student at Colorado State University, canvassed for Amendment 79 when it was still considered Proposed Initiative No. 89. She said people were generally friendly, and she was even approached by some people who didn’t support abortion access to tell her they supported giving Coloradans the opportunity to vote on the issue.

In some more conservative areas, Wright said she and other canvassers received more negative reactions.

“There were people from a church in (Greeley) who would come up and pretend to be interested in our petitions just trying to take your time away from other people,” Wright said. “If you gave them your pen, they would actually try to scribble our pages. If you make marks outside of the designated boxes, it invalidates your entire booklet of signatures.”

Another aspect of Amendment 79 critics are concerned about is the financial impact on the state. However, CSU Professor Courtenay Daum said she believes that Amendment 79 likely won’t cause substantial financial changes.

“Amendment 79 doesn’t guarantee public funding for abortion; it just removes the constitutional prohibition on public funding for (it),” Daum said. “We’re dealing with two different types of public assistance for abortion, one of which is Medicaid, and the (other) would be state and local government employees utilizing their employee health insurance coverage.”

Daum said the fact Amendment 79 has been proposed at all is a good indication that abortion is something Coloradans care about protecting.

Colorado was the first state to permit abortion outside of specific circumstances in 1967, meaning the ruling of Roe v. Wade didn’t add any additional protections to the existing statute.

The state’s progressive abortion laws have made Colorado a destination for people from places with more restrictive statutes.

“Pregnant people are coming to Colorado from Texas, from Oklahoma, from Wyoming, from Idaho, from states that are regulating and prohibiting abortion,” Daum said. “What Colorado does legally with respect to abortion in light of the Dobbs decision has ramifications that go way beyond Colorado. It’s reproductive access for pregnant people in this huge area of the country.”

In 2022, Gov. Jared Polis passed an executive order that provides legal protections for people who come to the state seeking abortions as a response to some states seeking to pass laws that would prosecute those traveling out of state for the procedure.

“No one who is lawfully providing, assisting, seeking or obtaining reproductive health care in Colorado should be subject to legal liability or professional sanctions in Colorado or any other state, nor will Colorado cooperate with criminal or civil investigations for actions that are fully legal in our state,” the order states.

Victoria Benjamin, director of the Survivor Advocacy and Feminist Education Center at CSU, described how access to abortion and reproductive healthcare is also an important tool in violence prevention. However, the SAFE Center does not take an official stance on abortion and is only dedicated to providing victims the support and resources they need to recover from an assault.

“If a person is in a violent relationship, access to abortion can prevent them from having a lifelong tie to their partner,” Benjamin said. “We know, for example, that pregnant women who are in abusive relationships are at their highest risk of intimate partner homicide during pregnancy. Lack of access can result in death.”

Broad-reaching bills banning abortion procedures can lead to consequences that Benjamin said are not being considered.

“We’re seeing that there’s been women who have gone to an (emergency room) in a state where abortion is illegal now, and doctors hesitate to give them a procedure (like a dilation and curettage) because it’s considered an abortion procedure,” Benjamin said. “What will happen if that tissue stays in a body is that a person will become septic, and we’ve seen women die because they can’t access that particular procedure even though there’s no fetus.”

Reach Em Barry at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.