An Open Letter to Gov. Polis from the Pro-Life Colorado coalition

                                                                                                                        17 April 2025

Dear Governor Jared Polis,

Pro-Life Colorado is the united coalition of over 50 organizations that advocate for the health of preborn children and their mothers in Colorado. We write to you to ask you to veto SB25-183 “Coverage for Pregnancy Related Services,” which mandates, at a minimum, 1.5 million dollars per year be allocated out of the Colorado general revenue fund for state-funded Medicaid-covered elective abortions.

SB 183 violates the dignity of human life and disregards the safety of women and the conscience rights of millions of Coloradans who do not want to pay for abortion.

The 2024 legislative blue book for Amendment 79 stated that the removal of Section 50 of Article 5 in our state constitution would not result in taxpayer funded abortion. Yet, five months later, SB 183 has a fiscal note that shows millions of taxpayer dollars per year will subsidize abortion for in-state and out-of-state women.

Dr. Michael New from the Charlotte Lozier Institute published recent data on SB 183 showing a conservative cost estimate of state-funded abortion for Medicaid is actually more than $2 million per year. This very conservative estimate – still more than the fiscal note— is based off of an old percentage of Medicaid abortions from the Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood’s former policy arm).

Based on Guttmacher’s more recent Colorado data published in 2024, 62% of abortions were paid using Medicaid. Using those numbers, including the loss of federal support, we estimate the total cost to the state of SB 183 is closer to $8.5 million per year! That is a huge sum considering the $1 billion deficit Colorado is currently in.

Additionally, our July 2024 The Strategy Group campaign survey showed that had Coloradans known Amendment 79 would have resulted in taxpayer funded abortion, the measure would not have passed.

The fiscal note for SB 183 only considers one secondary cost in their analysis: potential savings for the state for so-called “averted births.” The legislative council that conducted the fiscal analysis used a tiny study from Louisiana to justify these supposed “savings,” while ignoring other potential cost increases on the state, including payments to cover abortion complications and mental-health treatment for women who come to regret their abortions.

It is horrific that the fiscal note claims it is “cheaper" to fund abortions than births. That is a chilling measure of how far Colorado has strayed from valuing human life and how disconnected the legislature is from the electorate.

Furthermore, the fiscal note drastically underestimates the cost of abortion, calculating the average abortion at $1,300, which is the average cost of first-trimester abortions only. According to the Colorado Department of Health, abortions after 21 weeks’ gestation make up 3.4% of all abortions in Colorado (the national average is 1 percent). In 2024, 1.1% of Colorado abortions were in the third trimester. Second and third-trimester abortions can cost between $3,000 – $30,000. In-hospital second trimester abortions routinely cost $22,000 on average.

We urge you, Governor Polis, to consider the millions of Coloradans who do not want their hard-earned tax dollars to be used in the destruction of human life and the harm of women.

 Please veto SB 183.

Sincerely,

Pro-Life Colorado Coalition