Colorado Bill Regarding Funding Restrictions for Abortion Services (SB 66)

SB 66 would have prohibited anyone who directly or indirectly performs, advocates, or provides referrals for induced abortion services from receiving any public money from, or administered by, the state of Colorado, its agencies, or political subdivisions.

Laws that ban abortion providers or affiliated provider organizations from receiving public funds can result in the closing of family planning and general health clinics. These bans are directed at Planned Parenthood affiliates and similar medical clinics despite the fact that the majority of these clinics provide family planning and basic reproductive health-care and not abortion services. For example, ninety-seven percent of the services Planned Parenthood provides has nothing to do with abortion care, yet in states with these laws, they are not allowed any funding for family planning. In many states, these affiliate bans have led to the shuttering of family planning clinics, particularly in low-income and immigrant communities where lack of access to reproductive health-care is already critical.

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