Abortion saved Lauren Miller’s baby.
Doctors in Texas told Miller last fall that one of her twins had Trisomy 18 and that, like the vast majority of babies with Edwards syndrome, the genetic mutation would kill the baby in her womb. Outcomes for the remaining baby in such situations are often dire and routinely doctors perform selective abortions to save the life of the remaining twin and prevent health complications for expectant mothers.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has banned abortions after six weeks of gestation – only days after a woman’s elevated hormones are the only indication she is pregnant.
Miller came to Colorado for the procedure
Then she bravely shared her story with the Colorado General Assembly, begging lawmakers to protect her medical records from Texas prosecutors and abortion bounty hunters who can file civil lawsuits.
Days after she testified, Miller gave birth to a healthy baby boy. We hope he grows up knowing his mother is a selfless champion for what is right.
This is what Democrats in Colorado are fighting for – the complex health care needs of every woman in America who is unfortunate enough to live in a state ruled by men and women who don’t grasp the complexities of pregnancy and have denied women in their state access to modern medicine.
The U.S. Supreme Court did demonstrable harm when it stripped pregnant women of their constitutional protections. American women are suffering.
We must protect women like Anya Cook and Shanae Smith-Cunningham, two friends who both suffered needless health complications, one life-threatening because Florida doctors were unable to treat their preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes (PPROM) with an abortion of fetuses that were pre-viability also not going to survive without amniotic fluid.
No one is certain how far prosecutors in the many states that have abortion bans can go to punish women who have abortions performed across state lines, or whether those prosecutors will target abortion providers and those who “aid and abet” women seeking abortions.
Doctors and nurses bravely continue to perform abortions in Colorado despite the threat that out-of-state prosecutors could come for them.
Gov. Jared Polis has said that he would not extradite doctors and nurses to face charges in states that have criminalized abortion, but make no mistake that health care providers for pregnant women are at risk, as is anyone in this state who helps women seeking abortions.
Colorado no longer has the luxury of accepting the status quo. We are a state of last resort for too many pregnant women.
Colorado lawmakers passed Senate Bill 188 to prohibit Colorado state and local governments from participating in out-of-state investigations of any protected health care procedure. Sen. Julie Gonzales, Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, Rep. Meg Froelich, and Rep. Brianna Titone stepped up to protect Miller and her doctors and anyone else who helped support her trip to Colorado. Polis is expected to sign the bill on Friday along with two other critical abortion protections.
First, banning deceptive practices of anti-abortion clinics that don’t staff doctors but nonetheless pretend to dispense medical advice is essential. Imagine low-income women who spend all their money to travel to Colorado for an abortion, only to discover that the clinic they have an appointment with not only doesn’t perform the procedure but exists solely to talk her out of getting an abortion. The scam would be devastating.
Anti-abortion facilities must be transparent in their goals and about the limitations of the employees at their facility who often have limited to no medical licensing.
Polis will sign Senate Bill 190 prohibiting anyone, including health care providers, from claiming they provide abortions when they do not.
And Senate Bill 189 will require health insurance companies to cover reproductive health care, including abortion, sterilization and treatment for reproductive health care treatments.
For years Colorado lawmakers who understand the importance of reproductive freedom have been less proactive, instead fighting off the many attempts brought by Republicans at the Capitol to restrict women’s choices and access to care.
That changed with the Reproductive Health Equity Act in 2022.
Today lawmakers are taking the offensive to protect pregnant women across the nation, and Polis is fighting right alongside them.
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