Colorado signs abortion bill into law

The United States Governor of Colorado Jared Polis, on Monday, assented to landmark legislation, guaranteeing women’s right to abortion.

The governor signed into law, following the longest debate in Colorado House history, the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which codifies women’s right to make reproductive healthcare decisions – free from government interference.

“In the State of Colorado, the serious decision to start or end a pregnancy with medical assistance will remain between a person, their doctor and their faith,” he said.

“No matter what the Supreme Court does in the future, people in Colorado will be able to choose when and if they have children,” Polis said at a bill signing ceremony at his mansion in downtown Denver.

The Colorado legislature approved the bill last month with Republicans spending hours arguing against the bill.

The bill was debated in the House for 24 consecutive hours in what was one of the longest debates in the legislature’s history. With this new development, abortion in Colorado is currently legal at all stages of pregnancy.

It is one of seven states of the US without any term restrictions as to when a pregnancy can be terminated.

In a recent national poll by the Pew Research Centre, 59 per cent of adults said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

“A vast majority of women support their own right to an abortion,” Richardson, a policy advisor said.

He added that the voices of the current religious extremists against the stated desires of America’s founding fathers, who wanted a separation of church and state are succeeding in pulling America back into the stone ages.

NAN