Guest Blog: Yes on Amendment 79
Three foundation CEOs urge voters to keep Colorado a leader in women’s safety, opportunity, and prosperity
By Lauren Y. Casteel, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado; Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, Rose Community Foundation; and Linda Reiner, Caring for Colorado
There is a fundamental link between reproductive freedoms, economic security, and community well-being
For decades, Caring for Colorado, Rose Community Foundation, and The Women’s Foundation of Colorado have invested in improving health policies and access to comprehensive reproductive health services for people in Colorado. Through grantmaking and advocacy, we are working to advance equitable systems where individuals can lead healthy lives and achieve their personal goals. As foundations investing in reproductive health services, including abortion care, we strongly support Amendment 79, a ballot measure that protects both the right and access to abortion care in Colorado.
Vote Yes on Amendment 79: We Trust Women to Make Personal Choices About Their Health
There is a fundamental link between reproductive freedoms, economic security, and community well-being – all values our foundations hold true. When individuals are able to control whether or not to have children – and when – they are able to make critical decisions about their futures, from how many years of education they can attain to what kind of career they want to pursue. They are also able to protect their own future fertility and even their own lives when a pregnancy threatens either.
All women should have the right to make their own decisions about their reproductive health without discrimination, intimidation, judgment, or violence. Yet, we know that many women, especially women living in poverty and women of color, face these barriers today and have for generations.
We trust women to make personal choices about their reproductive health – from dealing with menstrual health, contraception, sterilization, childbirth, and abortion. Make no mistake: abortion is an integral part of the spectrum of healthcare and should be covered by insurance, whether it’s private, employer-provided insurance, or publicly funded like teachers, firefighters and other public employees’ insurance, so every woman in Colorado has the same access to services.
Individuals, Colorado communities benefit from reproductive freedom
A 2018 research study published in the American Journal of Public Health clearly linked full access to reproductive healthcare – including abortion – to economic security: “Women denied abortion were more likely than women who received an abortion to experience economic hardship and insecurity lasting years. Laws that restrict access to abortion may result in worsened economic outcomes for women.”
Not only do individuals benefit from reproductive freedom, but so do Colorado communities. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research reports that the 16 states that either ban abortion or have extreme restrictions cost the national economy $68 billion and suppress women’s labor force participation by almost 3 percent. We all benefit when women have full access to reproductive healthcare.
Reproductive freedom is essential to protect women’s continued progress and advance equity for all in our state. After Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago, advocates for reproductive health, rights, and justice recognized the need for a more secure solution that amends the Colorado constitution to codify the right to abortion, including employer or public health insurance coverage for abortion services. They submitted Amendment 79 for Colorado’s 2024 ballot.
The Colorado Blue Book summary of the measure is straightforward: Amendment 79 makes abortion a constitutional right in Colorado and prohibits state and local governments from denying, impeding, or discriminating against exercising that right. Amendment 79 also repeals an existing Colorado constitutional provision banning the use of public funds for abortion services.
The benefits for Colorado women, families, and communities are clear. We have faith in the voters, who have consistently made Colorado a leading state for women’s safety, opportunity, and prosperity. They have a history of upholding the right to make personal health decisions—including the right to abortion—most recently at the ballot box in 2020. We encourage Coloradans to vote YES on Amendment 79 this November.
Lauren Y. Casteel is the president & CEO of The Women’s Foundation of Colorado; a recognized advocate for women, children, youth, and families in the state; and the first person in Colorado to lead three separate foundations.
Lindy Eichenbaum Lent is the president & CEO of Rose Community Foundation, a healthcare conversion foundation that strives to advance inclusive, engaged and equitable Greater Denver communities through values-driven philanthropy.
Linda Reiner is the president and CEO of Caring for Colorado, a health grantmaking foundation working to create equity in health, wellbeing and opportunity for Colorado’s young people and their families.
