The Colorado House on Friday passed a Senate resolution on “Reproductive Rights and Justice Day,” designated by the resolution for Jan. 22, but not without expected pushback from House Republicans. 

Both party caucuses stood together as each side spoke on the resolution.

Democrats spoke briefly, led by co-sponsor Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, who said “reproductive justice exists when all individuals have the power and self-determination to make healthy decisions about our bodies.” And when or if deciding to grow families, “reproductive oppression” exists when bodily autonomy “is robbed from women through policy rooted in sexism, lack of respect for women and disempowerment.”

Last year, Republicans stood together behind House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese of Colorado Springs as she spoke on behalf of the caucus and against the resolution. 

That wasn’t going to happen in 2025, and Friday’s hour-long comments from Republicans is an indication that the debate likely won’t be the last.

Last November, Colorado voters approved Amendment 79, which enshrines the right to an abortion in the state constitution, on a 62% to 38% vote.

While Republicans have yet to introduce legislation on the abortion issue, a bill enacting the constitutional amendment, a standard practice after voters approve any changes to either statute or the constitution, is expected sometime in the 2025 session. The legislation is likely to generate the same kind of reaction seen Friday and in 2022, when Democratic lawmakers approved a statute on the right to abortion and contraception, but which came with a 23-hour filibuster from Republicans in the state House. 

The 2022 measure was in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The 2024 amendment was in anticipation of possible federal law to outlaw abortion nationwide. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported after the November 2024 election that 16 states had abortion-related measures on the November ballot. Voters in 10 states had measures to protect abortions. Seven states, including Colorado and red states like Montana and Missouri, approved citizen initiatives to protect the right to abortion.

Only one state, Nebraska, approved a ban on abortions. 

During debate on the resolution Friday, House Republicans, with often graphic descriptions of abortions, blasted those who support that right, even criticizing women for having sex.

“You cannot make the immoral moral,” said Rep. Ken DeGraff, R-Colorado Springs, citing Martin Luther King, Jr. “We can delve into the details where 99% of [abortions] are the result of using procreation as recreation.”

Two lawmakers talked about the experience of losing a pregnancy, including Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park, who said “Colorado is not a pro-choice state, it’s a pro-death state.”

Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, offered statistics provided by a constituent on the risks of abortion, including stating that having an abortion increases the risk of breast cancer by 40%. The American Cancer Society rejects that claim, stating “The most up-to-date scientific research suggests that abortion does not influence a woman’s risk for breast cancer.”

Luck offered a strike-below amendment, which rewrites the entire resolution and would change Jan. 22 to “Sanctity of Human Rights Day.” It failed on a party-line vote. Rep. Lisa Feret, D-Arvada, initially voted in favor but told Colorado Politics that vote was in error. She later informed the House, with Luck at her side, of the error.

In the Senate Wednesday, the resolution passed along party lines with comments from Democrats. Republicans did not speak on the resolution. 

The resolution passed in the House along party lines, although two Republicans, Reps. Dan Woog of Erie and Ryan Gonzalez of Greeley, were both unavailable for the vote. Woog returned to the chamber immediately following the vote.