Amendment 79 is a proposed measure on Colorado’s November 2024 ballot. If passed, it would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, repealing the 1984 Amendment 3, which currently bans the use of public funds for abortions. This would secure access to abortion, including insurance coverage, for state employees and others using public health funds.

Regardless of your stance on abortion, this amendment represents excessive government overreach. It removes the requirement for parental notification, enshrines provisions for late-term abortion in our state constitution, and mandates taxpayer funding for abortion services.


79 removes the parental notification law in CO. If a boyfriend or a school counselor pressures a 15-year-old girl to have an abortion, her parents have a right to know.

Right To Know CO

Other opponents of this amendment say it is too extreme in other ways: The Independence Institute’s position on Amendment 79 is rooted in concerns about taxpayer funding rather than moral debates on abortion. They highlight that while abortion is already legal in Colorado, this amendment goes further by potentially allowing public funds, including Medicaid and state and local health plans, to cover abortion services. Their key concern is that passing the amendment could lead to mandated public health insurance coverage for abortions, funded by taxpayers, which could conflict with personal beliefs. Failure to pass the amendment would leave the current system in place, keeping these public funding mandates off the table. Read for yourself here.


79 will force CO taxpayers to cover the cost of abortion for in-state and out-of-state women by removing the protection against public funding.

Right To Know CO

According to COPCA:

Abortions Until Birth: Colorado already has some of the strongest protections for abortion of any U.S. state. This measure goes far beyond what even Roe v. Wade authorized and will make Colorado a hub for more third-trimester abortions, which is after a baby can survive outside the womb and feel pain.

Dismantles Parental Rights: It permits minors to have abortions without parental consent. Coloradans have rejected this at the polls twice previously, believing that if a teenager is being pressured by a boyfriend or school counselor to have an abortion, her parents have a right to know.

Taxpayer Funded Abortions: Current Colorado law bans taxpayer funds from being used for abortions, requiring private insurance plans to cover abortion. This measure would use your taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions in Colorado, including for those coming from out of state.

Vote “No” on November 5th: Ensure you’re registered and ready to vote ‘No’ to reject this extreme anti-life measure that would trample the rights of parents … increase late-term abortions on healthy babies and moms … and use our taxes to do it.


We oppose this amendment. Colorado already has some of the strongest protections for abortion rights of any state in the nation by allowing legal protection for all nine months of pregnancy. Parents should not be denied notification and those who oppose abortion should not be required to fund it under force of law.

For additional reading on 79 please see: