The legislature has passed a resolution designating Jan. 22 as “Roe v. Wade Anniversary Day” in Colorado.

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized abortion as a legal right, a decision overturned in the 2022 case Dobbs vs. Jackson. 

The Colorado resolution, sponsored by Democrats from both the House and the Senate, states that the Dobbs decision “resulted in significant physical and mental trauma as well as significant financial burden on people no longer able to access abortion care where they live and who must seek care elsewhere.” 

The resolution passed 21-13 in the Senate and 41-14 in the House. 

Several legislators spoke in favor of the resolution during hearings in both chambers, some mentioning how Colorado became the first state in the country to allow legal abortions, notably under Republican Gov. John Love and with a Republican majority.

Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Baisley, R-Roxborough Park, argued that the justices who decided Roe in 1973 asked the wrong questions.

“I believe that the primary reason that settling answers about abortion are so elusive is that the wrong questions were asked by the Supreme Court in 1973,” he said.

“During the Roe vs Wade hearings, the justices posed questions in an attempt to establish conclusions about when life begins in the development of an unborn human,” he said. “The mess that will not be resolved began with the assumption that Justice (Warren) Burger with the Supreme Court had the authority to determine when life begins. When does life begin? It’s an interesting question, but it’s not the business of the government.”