In every month of 2022 except January, the number of women who traveled to Colorado for abortions was more than double what it was in 2021. | Public Domain/PxHere
In every month of 2022 except January, the number of women who traveled to Colorado for abortions was more than double what it was in 2021. | Public Domain/PxHere
Jessica Valenti, a feminist author who has written books including "The Purity Myth" and "Why Have Kids?" recently said more and more women are traveling to Colorado for abortions.
"Because of an influx of out-of-state patients, the average wait time for a first-trimester abortion in Colorado is 22 days," Valenti wrote in an Oct. 17 Twitter post.
In every month of 2022 except January, the number of women who traveled to Colorado for abortions was more than double what it was in 2021, CPR News reported. In 2019, fewer than 1,000 women from different states traveled to Colorado for abortions, while as of September 2022, almost 2,500 out-of-state women came to Colorado for abortions. Around 40% of abortions in Colorado in July of this year were provided to women from out of state.
Approximately 11,580 women had abortions in Colorado in 2021, an increase from 10,368 in 2020, according to data from the Colorado Department of Public Health & the Environment, cited by Abort73. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that 17.9% of pregnancies in Colorado in 2020 ended in abortion. That figure does not include miscarriages.
The Fuller Project, which compiled a list of state laws on abortion in the wake of Roe v Wade, found that Colorado is one of just six states in the country with no limitations on abortion whatsoever. States including California and New York have limits on abortions after 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the Reproductive Health Equity Act into law in April, cementing the legality of abortion in Colorado. The bill asserts that Colorado women have a right to undergo an abortion, and that embryos and fetuses do not have any rights. The law prohibits state and local public entities from enacting any restrictions on abortions.
Polis issued a press release calling the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade "alarming" and touted Colorado as an abortion haven.
"Coloradans do not want politicians making their health care decisions. Because of my administration and Democratic leadership in the legislature, Coloradans don’t have to worry because our rights are still protected today despite the unfortunate reality that the U.S. Supreme Court just rolled those freedoms back for millions of Americans in other states," Polis said. "In Colorado, we will continue to choose freedom and we stand against government control over our bodies. State leadership matters now more than ever and in Colorado, we will not retreat to an archaic era where the powerful few controlled the freedoms over our bodies and health decisions."
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