HB 22-1279

HB 22-1279, also known as the Reproductive Health Equity Act, ensures that individuals in Colorado have the right to use or refuse contraception and to continue a pregnancy or get an abortion without interference from state and local public entities. The bill protects these rights by preventing any government body from punishing people based on their reproductive choices. It was signed into law, meaning it is now official legislation in Colorado and its provisions are enforceable.

Official Summary

The act declares that every individual has a fundamental right to use or refuse contraception; every pregnant individual has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion; and a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent or derivative rights under the laws of the state. The act prohibits state and local public entities from: Denying, restricting, interfering with, or discriminating against an individual's fundamental right to use or refuse contraception or to continue a pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion in the regulation or provision of benefits, services, information, or facilities; and Depriving, through prosecution, punishment, or other means, an individual of the individual's right to act or refrain from acting during the individual's own pregnancy based on the potential, actual, or perceived impact on the pregnancy, the pregnancy's outcomes, or on the pregnant individual's health.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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