Bennet, Hickenlooper Effort to Protect Colorado Doctors Providing Abortion Care Blocked by Senate Republicans

Press Release

Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined colleagues to pass the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, a bill to protect doctors providing legal abortion care to out-of-state patients. Today, Senate Republicans blocked the bill's passage on the Senate floor.

As Republicans across the country weaken reproductive healthcare, they are also targeting doctors and service providers in states where abortion is legal, like Colorado, and women who travel to receive care. Abortion providers, like Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an abortion provider who is facing legal threats after providing legal abortion care to a 10-year-old rape victim who was forced to cross state lines, are facing attacks following the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Dr. Bernard's case is emblematic of the legal threats and intimidation abortion providers across the country are facing.

"Colorado codified the right to choose -- and if women travel here for reproductive health care that may be restricted in their home state, our doctors should be able to practice medicine without fear of legal repercussions," said Bennet. "Our legislation ensures doctors in states like Colorado that have not restricted reproductive health care are not subject to prosecution for doing their jobs."

"Republican overreach on reproductive rights is affecting doctors in states like Colorado where abortion is still legal," said Hickenlooper. "Targeting these doctors harms them and the women they treat. We have to prioritize women's health."

In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Republican state legislators are drafting legislation that would make it a crime to perform an abortion on a state resident even in another state where abortion is legal. The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act will ensure that providers in states where abortion remains legal are protected from any efforts to restrict their medical practice or create uncertainty about their legal liability.

Specifically, the bill will:

Protect health care providers in states where abortion is legal from being subject to laws that try to prevent them from providing reproductive health care services or make them liable for providing those services to patients from any other state. These protections could be enforced by a federal lawsuit from the Department of Justice (DOJ), a patient, or a provider, ensuring a future DOJ could not turn a blind eye to state laws that violate these protections;

Prohibit any federal funds from being used to pursue legal cases against individuals who access legal reproductive health care services or against health care providers in states where abortion is legal;

Create a new grant program at the DOJ to fund legal assistance or legal education for reproductive health care service providers;

Create a new grant program at the Department of Health and Human Services to support reproductive health care service providers in obtaining physical, cyber, or data privacy security upgrades necessary to protect their practice and patients; and

Protect reproductive health care providers from being denied professional liability insurance coverage because of legal services offered to patients.

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