Opinion: Why You Should Vote Yes on Amendment 79

In medical school, I learned the “4 A’s” of a good doctor: be available, affordable, affable and adept. I strive to consistently be affable and adept, but available and affordable — which are key needs for people seeking health care — are more challenging. As a Colorado OB/GYN and abortion provider, I have seen the strain on patients, families and systems since the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson overturned Roe v Wade. Several states immediately banned abortion, with devastating effects on people’s lives.

In contrast, Colorado passed laws in 2022 and 2023 to protect and improve access to safe abortion care. One law provides additional legal protections to abortion providers and people seeking abortion care. Another requires that insurance plans offered by large private employers must include coverage of abortion care beginning in 2025. While I testified in support of and applaud these measures, we need to do more to establish equitable access to abortion care. We need to do more to protect our rights and to ensure that they can’t be taken away by judges or legislators. I don’t want to have to go back to the legislature every year and argue for something we all know should be a fundamental, constitutional right that can’t be taken away by the stroke of a pen.

This is why we need to vote YES on Amendment 79.

Amendment 79 will add language to the Colorado Constitution recognizing the right to abortion access, and preventing state and local governments from interfering in a person’s bodily autonomy. Every person should have the right to make pregnancy decisions — including abortion — regardless of where they live.

Each pregnancy and each person’s circumstances are unique. People seek abortions for numerous reasons: pregnancies that are the result of rape, pregnancies affected by lethal birth defects, medical and mental health conditions that are drastically worsened by pregnancy. And really, truly — if now is not the right time in someone’s life to be pregnant, that is reason enough. Also, unpredictable pregnancy complications (which unfortunately can affect anyone regardless of age, race or health status) mean that access to safe, legal abortion can become a life-saving necessity in an instant. All Coloradans deserve the freedom, and the right, to safe legal abortion care — for themselves and their families.

Amendment 79 will also repeal a 1984 constitutional amendment — which passed by less than one percentage point — that forbids the State of Colorado to use any public funds to pay for abortion care, unless the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or the pregnant person’s life is in immediate danger. Right now, no one with state-funded insurance — teachers, firefighters, government employees and people with Medicaid — can use their insurance to pay for abortion care.

It is inequitable and cruel to say to someone that the safest thing to do is to have an abortion, to say to someone you know that if your baby is born, he will live a short and painful life. To say to someone you know that you can’t afford to care for a child, but unless you have several hundred dollars — or for an abortion later in pregnancy, several thousand dollars — you’re going to have to have a baby. Yet that is the State of Colorado in 2024. And just as bodily autonomy shouldn’t depend on where you live, it shouldn’t depend on your employer or your insurance. Amendment 79 is a big step toward fairness in health care.

I cannot overstate the importance of constitutional protection for abortion care in Colorado. Until 2022, abortion was legal nationwide, but even then, it wasn’t available or affordable for millions of people. Coloradans have affirmed their commitment to legal abortion numerous times over the years, but protections and support need to be stronger. We need to put our commitment into action — to keep abortion safe, legal, available and affordable.

My patients deserve it, my fellow medical professionals deserve it, and all Coloradans, regardless of where they live or the source of their insurance, deserve it.

Vote YES on Amendment 79.

Rebecca Cohen is a Denver-area OB/GYN and abortion provider.

In the weeks leading up to the November 5 election, westword.com will be publishing commentaries on the various ballot measures...both pro and con. Have one you'd like to submit? Send it to [email protected], where you can also comment on this piece.