DENVER — A longstanding federal law is in jeopardy because of what's going on in the Longhorn state.
"It will not surprise me to see even more states fall in line just like Texas," said Vicki Cowart, the president of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountain Region.
The Supreme Court denied a request late Wednesday to freeze a new Texas law banning abortions after six weeks, which Cowert says likely means more women will come to Colorado for their treatment.
"We’re collectively working across the country to be sure the Texas patients know that there are a lot of people out here that care about them," Cowart said when asked if Planned Parenthood is encouraging women to come to Colorado for treatment.
Colorado for Life, a pro-life group, said it's happy about the outcome in Texas.
"Colorado for Life applauds the pro-life leadership in Texas to pass a bill that will save human lives. Estimates indicate 135-150 lives will be saved every day thanks to our new Supreme Court's common sense decision. While a great pro-life victory, this makes it even more imperative we work to protect unborn lives in Colorado, too."
Already, Planned Parenthood in Texas is encouraging women to travel to Colorado and other surrounding states to have their abortions after six weeks. Colorado for Life exists to protect and defend every unborn life, which includes ending “abortion tourism” in Colorado.
Karen Middleton is the president of Cobalt, a pro-choice group, that, in part, helps women financially come from more conservative states to Colorado.
"We are already starting to get calls. What will happen is if they can’t get legal access to abortions in Texas, they will go to another state and legally access that elsewhere. Colorado’s doors are open," Middleton said.
Upwards of 15% of the abortions in Colorado are for women coming from other states, according to Middleton. Many fly in to get the procedure and fly right back the same day.
"We had a woman who came from Ohio because they had a 20 week ban there. Texas going all the way back to six weeks means a kind of routine care that they could get at home and now they can’t get at home, and we have a lot more options for people in Aurora, Denver, Colorado Springs," Middleton said.
The Texas move is getting praise from many conservatives around the country, but the pro-life group Colorado Right to Live is against it.
"Colorado RTL is an abolitionist organization, and as such, we don’t support heartbeat laws, which violate Equal Protection Under Law. The Texas law sadly won’t impact Colorado and won’t really change much in Texas. Expecting the abortionist to try to find a heartbeat when he or she has a financial incentive to miss one is laughable."
Until every human is legally protected at every stage of biological development, from fertilization to natural death — no exceptions — we will never stop fighting."
Matt Niedzielski, the president of Pikes Peak Citizens for Life, calls the decision, "positive development for the community in general. We are finally recognizing that human life is in the womb."
